Something greater
by Not Just a Nerd
Summary: Sometimes you have to let go of something great to get something greater." *JALEX* A non-incestuous, adoption story, exploring the slap-slap-kiss aspect of their relationship. MAIN SUMMARY INSIDE.
1. Prologue

_**Main summary: Justin and Alex have been the perfect brother and sister, until Justin finds out he's adopted and leaves to live with his real parents. Ten years later he returns to realize his feelings for Alex have changed. Will Alex return these feelings? Jalex. Multi-chapter story. Explores the Slap-Slap-Kiss dynamic of their relationship, with very few sappy moments. Trust me when I say I've captured their bickering well. Has a happy ending. Non-incestuous. Do you need any more reasons to give it a try?**_

******

Disclaimer: If I owned WOWP jalex would have been canon, but since it isn't, obviously I don't own WOWP :P

*****

_**Prologue**_

"**Time changes everything." **

People change, things change, situations change, feelings change.

Everything changes- everything in this world is **dynamic**.

"**Every new beginning is some beginnings end."**

You have to let go of the past to enjoy the present and look forward to a bright future.

**And sometimes, you have to let go of something great to get something greater….**

**********

_Year 1998_

_A seven year old Justin Russo was sitting at his study desk, reading about some first aid tips. _

"_Justin, honey, come have a look at what your sister has painted. Its bea-u-tiful!" Theresa called from the living room. _

"_Mom, I'm busy studying!" Justin yelled back from his room. _

_Honestly, he never understood why his parents had to fuss over Alex so much. What did she have that he lacked? He was smart, intelligent, responsible, serious- and everything else that parents look for in their kids, but Alex- she was clumsy, self-centered, nagging, annoying, and yet, she always got their parents attention! Why didn't they ever realize that Justin felt neglected- somewhat invisible? _

_Justin was finding it impossible to concentrate on his first aid box with all those negative thoughts in his mind. Suddenly, Alex came into his room. __**(List of things Justin hates about Alex: Alex Russo never knocks.) **_

"_Hey Justin, have a look at my drawing." Alex chirped, sitting down on his bed without taking his permission.. _

"_Alex, can't you see I'm busy?" Justin snapped, not looking up from the book._

_She sat on the bed motionless, without saying a word. When he finally looked up at her, there were two tiny teardrops in the corner of those beautiful brown eyes. And Justin felt his heart ache. __**(List of things Justin hates about Alex: Alex Russo could always win over his heart through her tears)**_

"_All right, fine, show me." Justin sighed in defeat._

_Alex smiled her victorious smile and handed the picture to him. _

_Justin saw the picture. It was quite vague, considering Alex was just five. But he could make out two stick figures in the picture._

"_Umm, Al, who are they?"_

_Alex giggled before replying- "That's me and you silly!" _

_And this is why everyone loves Alex so much! _

_Justin smiled brightly, before engulfing Alex in a hug. "Thank you Alex."_

"_No, thank you Justin."_

"_What?" Justin asked in confusion._

_Alex smiled mischievously. "Those were your new crayons."_

"_Alex! You- Mom! Alex took my-"_

"_She knows."_

"_And?"_

_Alex shrugged, and Justin realized she got away with this AGAIN. _

_And there you go again……._

_******_

**Year 2009**

"Alex, can you pass me my hoodie please", Justin asked, leaning against the couch, reading a science magazine.

"Sure." Alex smiled, grabbing his hoodie from the chair in the dining space, and throwing it into the air so that it fell on the floor three feet away from him.

"Alex! That's not how you treat clothes!" Justin yelled, getting up and rushing to pick up his hoodie, dusting it with his hands, and placing it on the couch neatly.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Nope, that's how I treat you."

_******_

Time changes everything.

People change, situations change, feelings change.

**But some things never change…**.

(A/N: that's the prologue. Chapter 1 will be up soon. Please give it a try. BTW, I'm going to start jalex 10 yrs after Justin finds out he's adopted, because things don't change that easily. I mean, if you find out you're adopted, will you suddenly realize that you're in love with your bro/sis? my point exactly. PLEASE REVIEW, PRETTY PLEASE. I review everything I read :P)

(BTW, Jayendra, if you're reading this, I'm from West Bengal, and my Hindi is horrible LOL.)


	2. Chapter 1

(A/N: I'll use the show references, but it'll not be exactly as it happened in the show. The characters are going to stay VERY much in character. And this will be more of a dialogue based story to capture their bickering-well that's the main theme here-properly. And yeah, I'm not using Juliet or Mason in this story, just Dean.)

Disclaimer: don't own the show or the characters or the song.

******

**Chapter 1: **

"_Anything you think of with a name,_

_There isn't anything in life,_

_That ever stays the same_

_And everything changes, changes,_

_Things are changing constantly,_

_And everything changes, changes, it's evolutionary._

_Everything changes, changes,_

_Changing all the time,_

_Playing with your mind,_

_Modified or re-arranged,_

_Everything has to change."_

_-Everything changes, from Pokemon_

_(Thanks to __**Baku Babe**__ for this song, you rock girl!)_

******

**Year 2009- The school, locker room**

"I _still _can't believe that Dad doesn't remember the room that I was born in!" Justin said to Alex, grabbing his books from his locker.

Alex whined, glancing at a cute boy passing by. "Come on Justin. Don't be so corny! Get over it!"

Justin shook his head and slammed his locker door roughly. "You just don't get it Alex! I don't even know the room I was born in! How can Dad forget such an important thing? I mean, I'm his eldest son. And the future family wizard-"

Justin stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Alex's eyebrows narrowed threateningly and her fist clenched. After a few seconds of consideration, he added, "-_most probably_."

Harper made her entrance at this moment. "Hi Alex! Hey Justin! Wow you are wearing that shirt that is green, well actually blue-green, or more of a light blue and dark green combo, but because of that light it looks more blue than green but if you ask me I'd say-"

Alex froze when she looked at her friends witch dress and quickly cut her off. "Hi…umm…Harper, why are you dressed up in this wiz-tech thing?"

"_Technically_, it's called a _robe_". Justin corrected her. But Alex simply rolled her eyes and ignored his comment.

"Oh! It's a new dress I made for my aunt. It's entirely made of white cloth, painted with tar." Harper chirped. "Do you like it? My aunt loves everything magic because her mother's cousin's best friend was a wizard I think… or was it her grandmother's cousin? Anyways, what's up with you guys?"

"Oh I'm feeling _great_. You know why? Justin's super upset." Alex smiled.

"Why Justin what happened?" Harper began panicking immediately. "Is everything all right? Are you okay? Did some girl dump you? Which girl? Who were you dating? Didn't you tell her that-"

"- because dad forgot the room that he was born in." Alex cut her off again, taking a bit of a slice of pizza.

"Oh I'm sorry Justin. That's almost as sad as loosing your sewing needle in a hay stack. But why don't you check out the hospital and ask the authorities?" Harper suggested.

"I already did that. But the place has been converted into a mall…. And guess what- they have a GREAT SCIENCE SHOP that I totally love! It sells a calculator that will work in atmospheric conditions of MARS." Justin replied excitedly.

"Good. Cause you might need it to calculate your dork quotient when I send you to mars for boring me to death." Alex mocked.

"Oh I would love to make myself useful for boring you to death." Justin snapped back quickly. "And there're no such thing as dork quotient." He added.

"But you can't. You are too boring to even bore me to death. Come on Harper! Bye Justin! Catch you later when you return from mars!" Alex replied so quickly that Justin didn't even have the time to process her words and think of a reply. _(Hey, Alex always loved to say the last words, especially when it came to annoying Justin)_

But then she returned again, grinning, to shoot another nasty comment at her brother- "by the way genius, you just admitted you are boring!"

"What? When? Oh! Every time!" Justin sighed, and Alex smiled. **(List of things Justin hated about Alex: Alex Russo could always twist his own words against him.) **

With that Alex left the locker-room for class (what class? We are just as unsure as Alex).

******

**The residence, living room **

Justin entered the room first, following by Max. "Hey mom! We're home."

"Hey guys! How was your day?" Theresa smiled at her children, but then frowned when she noticed one of her kids was missing. "Wait, where's Alex? Did she get detention again?"

"No, I think she was buying something." Justin replied non-chalantly.

"Alex is shopping?" Theresa asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Something about some lip gloss…… oh come on, I'm a guy!" Justin snapped, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"Justin, is something wrong? Cause you never talk to me this way! " Theresa asked, worried.

"No, everything's fine, apart from the fact that my parents don't remember the room I was _born in_!" Justin snapped back.

"Honey, we're really sorry, but you have to get over it now. You know you are just as important to us as Alex or max. Both me and your dad love you a lot!" Theresa tried to console her eldest son.

Justin opened his mouth to say something, but-

At this moment, Alex entered the room, and with that the air in the room changed. The tension was lifted and there was a carefree vibe around. Alex sat down in a chair and quickly checked her text. "Oh my gosh! --Max, can u get me a glass of water? Good.--- you guys wouldn't believe what happened today!"

"That tattoo dude just asked you out?" Justin cut her in. Okay, so maybe Justin already knew. _Whatever_.

"His name is _Dean_. And his tattoos are _great_. You wouldn't know of course, _chicken._" Alex snapped.

"Well, maybe I like to keep my arms free for writing complicated mathematical equations instead of drawing a random unicorn." Justin snapped back.

"Only _you _would write something like that in your arms…" Alex scoffed and then paused. "Wait a minute. Are you planning on _cheating_?" She smirked.

"I'm not Alex Russo." Justin retorted.

Alex glared at him. Justin glared back.

Theresa cut in. "All right kids. You can continue your glare contest later. It's time for dinner."

"Mom, I'm 16. Will you stop calling me a kid?"

******

"Hey mom. How come I've never seen a picture of me when I was… like 1 year old?" Justin questioned Theresa during dinner.

For some reason, Theresa froze mid-track and tried to think of a reason. Thankfully for her, Alex cut in- "maybe because you were too ugly for the camera."

Justin scoffed. "How do _you _know? You weren't even _born_ then!"

"The evidence still shows in your face. You should try the mirror sometimes." Alex snapped.

"_Evidence_? Since when do _you_use big words?" Justin chuckled.

Max returned with the glass of water. Alex smiled at Justin, "if you don't shut your mouth this water is going down your shirt."

"You wouldn't do that!" Justin narrowed his eyebrows.

"Of course, I would, why wouldn't I?" Alex scoffed. And with that the water went down Justin's shirt.

"Well, maybe because I would do what I did to Harper's precious Mr. Frenchie dress." And with that, Justin hugged Alex, making her shirt soaking wet as well. And maybe he hugged her a little too tightly. _Whatever. Who cares? It's not like Alex suddenly got all dizzy or Justin suddenly got all nervous. This happened everyday. It was routine._

"Justin!" Alex shouted.

"You're welcome." Justin smiled.

"All right guys that's enough." Theresa cut in. "Go to your room and change your clothes. And Max, finish your vegetables now, and next time during dinner, you can take water from the dining table instead of the sandwich shop downstairs, that's more convenient."

"Really?" Max asked, putting on his thinking face.

And the rest of the dinner went as usual. (More sibling fights, more glares, more teasing, what else is new?)

****

**The balcony **

Justin was standing alone in the balcony when Alex joined in.

"Can't sleep?" Justin asked.

"No. Just thinking about my date with Dean tomorrow." Alex replied.

"You really like that kid so much?" Justin asked again.

Alex shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I do. He's really cute."

"But he has danger written all over him. Do you even know about his reputation? Haven't you heard about Dean's corner?"

"Gosh, you sound just like Harper! You two are totally made for each other." Alex chuckled, shoving him playfully with her elbow.

Justin glared at her in a way that said 'don't-even-think-about-it'. "Don't try to change the topic." 

Alex sighed and turned to look him in the eye. "Justin, it's time you realize something. I DON'T CARE!" Alex yelled the last part.

Justin sighed.

"Why are _you_ here?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know… it's just that… I don't know anything about my birth… its just such a mystery to me…"

"Justin. _You_ are a mystery to me till now." Alex scoffed.

"That's because your brain cannot take in something so intelligent, smart, scientific, rational _and_ logical."

"Yeah. Thank goodness my brain is not contaminated by you!"

"_Contaminated_? Where are these big words coming from? Wait a minute." Justin paused, thinking. "HAVE YOU BEING READING MY DAIRY?" Justin shrieked.

Alex just smiled mischievously.

"Alex! A dairy is something personal. You just can't read it without permission!" **(List of things Justin hates about Alex: Alex Russo takes his things without permission.)**

"But you would _never_ give me permission!" Alex argued.

"That's what I am trying to say here!"

"Hey! You read my journal without permission as well!" Alex pointed out.

"Okay, te_chnically_, I didn't _read_ your journal, Max found it and I-"

Alex cut him off. "-Okay, whatever, talking is exhausting. Can I get a few minutes to myself?"

"Yeah sure. Who'd want to talk to _you_?"

"Yeah. As if you even _exist_ for me!"

And there was silence for 2 minutes until Alex laid her head on Justin's shoulder.

"Don't get hurt Alex."

"I won't."

*****

(A/N: that's the first chapter. Hope you guys like it. Please review and let me know! If I don't get enough reviews, I'll update next week *shrug*. You know I update fast if you leave reviews :D BTW, I posted a new jalex one-shot called 'complicated')


	3. Chapter 2

(A/N: thanks for the few reviews :) )

Disclaimer: don't own it

*****

Chapter 2: **plan (Takes place after the maximan-daily robber episode)**

"_You say the glass is half empty,_

_I say it's half full._

_You say so many,_

_I say few,_

_You say it's day,_

_I say it's not night,_

_It's the same thing,_

_But it's not…._

_Whether you know it or not,_

_Whether you accept it or not._

_-An approximate English translation of "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na" from that movie. _

_(I say approximate because my Hindi is, surprisingly, worse than my English!)_

**********

**Takes place at the sub-station **

Justin was taking orders when Alex walked into the kitchen. (_It was Alex's shift, and since she was late as usual, Justin had to cover for her! No fair!) _

"You are late." Justin said without even looking at her.

"Really? 'Cause I think I'm right in time to do this-"Alex said as she poured some sauce in Justin's shirt.

"Hey! What was that for?" Justin shouted, staring at the dirty shirt.

"Oh, just a little thank you present for almost RUINING MY DATE!" Alex yelled while pouring some sugar into her mouth.

"I didn't ruin it! I had to look for you! MAX needed BOTH of us!" Justin reasoned, heading upstairs to change the shirt.

"'Maybe, but how was I supposed to explain that to Dean?" Alex yelled as she followed him. "Hey Dean, my brother needs my help because of some spells that only 3 wizards can do, and oh, by the way, I'm a wizard." Alex said in her sarcastic tone. "Yeah right!"

"Alex Russo has trouble making up an excuse?!?" Justin smirked, opening the doorknob to his room.

"No. I didn't say that. Pfft. Of course I made up an excuse!" Alex entered his room without his permission and sat down on his bed. "But what I am saying is how can you do this to ME?" Alex demanded, folding her arms in front of her.

"Why does everything have to revolve around you?" Justin accused, opening his neatly organized closet and taking out one of his neatly folded shirts. "Why do you always have to be so self-centered, Alex? When was the last time you did something good for someone?"

"Well I- oh no I didn't, that would have involved talking- ok-"she paused for a moment, thinking, "Yes, I got it! I helped Hugh when he found out he was adopted!" Alex pointed out.

"No I helped Hugh. I came up with the plan." Justin argued.

"No. I helped Hugh. I gave him shelter in my room when he was sad and all sorts of things because he was adopted." Alex stomped her feet on the floor angrily, because hello, here's the fight she'd been looking for! "Look this isn't about the plan. The important thing is, that it's all better now."

Justin's expression changed at this point. His face turned somewhat serious, making Alex worried. _(Not that she actually cared about him, but whatever.)_

"What's wrong Justin? Your face looks uglier than usual!" she smirked, glancing around his room to find anything that could serve as valuable blackmail material.

"Do you have to tease me about everything?" Justin asked in disbelief.

"Yes. You're welcome." Alex smiled, shifting a bit and touching his favorite action figure.

"Alex!" Justin shouted, slapping her hand away.

"Okay, okay, fine. Look, just tell me what is wrong, maybe I can help you!" she shrugged, glancing at the posters in his wall.

Justin eyed her up and down suspiciously for a moment, and finally began, "okay-"

"Wait," Alex immediately stopped him-"it doesn't involve your dolls does it?"

"They are ACTION FIGURES! And why would you think I would be worried about-" Justin paused as realization suddenly dawned on him. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?" he panicked, searching for the action figures he kept hidden in his closet. Sure enough, they were gone.

"Look, we _could _talk about the part where I tell you I hid your dolls so that I could blackmail you to giving me 5 dollars like I always do," Alex said, standing up and putting an arm around his shoulder, "OR we could talk move on and live in the moment where you tell me your problems without me teasing you for once."

Justin yanked out of her grasp. "Okay then I will not let you blackmail me, I will find my action figures and-"

"Justin!" Alex whined, pointing to her wrist watch.

"Okay!" Justin paused, rubbing his temples with his hand. "I just had a weird thought."

"_All_ your thoughts are weird." Alex said digging her nails.

"Hey! You said you'll listen to my problems without teasing me!" Justin protested.

"Okay, I said I won't tease you, but dude, who said anything about listening?" Alex chuckled, peeking at his closet to see if there was any embarrassing stuff there.

Justin simply shook his head in disbelief, shut the door of his closet, but continued anyway- "I was just wondering if I am adopted."

"Well it's possible. That's why we have nothing in common and you're not smart, cute and lovable like me." Alex replied, looking at her reflection in his mirror and smiling teasingly.

"Alex!" Justin held his hands up in the air in defeat. **(List of things Justin hates about Alex: Alex has the habit of cracking jokes and teasing him even in serious times.)**

_(Okay, so maybe this is serious?)_

"Justin! Stop over-thinking! Just because mom and dad don't remember the room you were born in doesn't mean you are adopted! You know how dad is! He forgets everything!" Alex reasoned.

"He remembered the lottery ticket number!" Justin pointed out.

_(Okay, so he has a point. Whatever, she has better things to do.)_

"What I'm trying to say here is if you were adopted they would have told us by now!" Alex yelled, finally feeling frustrated. _(Seriously, when did she start caring about Justin?)_

"You're probably right." Justin sighed. "Go downstairs. I'll just change and get there."

*****

Justin and Alex were busy taking orders at the substation again.

At this moment, Harper entered the place with an elderly looking woman by her side.

"Hey Alex! Hi Justin! This is my aunt Maria. Maria Russell. You know the one I was talking about yesterday!" Harper introduced. "Aunt Maria- this is my best friend Alex, and that's her brother _Justin_."

Justin panicked at the tone in which Harper said his name. _(This can't be good.)_

"Hi Mrs. Russell. Nice to meet you. ", Alex greeted.

"Nice to meet you too. By the way, it's MISS Russell." The lady greeted politely.

"Okay. Welcome to Waverly sub-station. Feel free to try the sandwiches. They are good. See you around!" With that Alex grabbed Harper's arm and went to her room.

The lady then turned to Justin. "How can I help you, maam?" Justin greeted politely.

"I'd like to try the sandwiches, as your sister suggested."

"Okay, sure! Have a nice day!"

And with that Justin continued with taking orders. (_He could remember complicated physics stuff but he forgot that it was Alex's shift so soon?_)

*****

**Takes place at the balcony at night**

"Can't sleep again?" Alex asked standing beside Justin.

"Yeah.. It's just that…" he looked at her. "Did you feel something strange about Ms. Russell? Like…. Like you know her before?"

"Justin! She lives in California. She's never been to New York. That's not even possible! And you're the smart one! Go figure!" Alex scoffed. _(Seriously? Did Justin have to act so weird all day? He was starting to freak her out.)_

"I know, it's just that….. I have been feeling so strange lately, it's so complicated…. I mean… I feel frustrated." Justin groaned.

"Will this help?" Alex said holding out Justin's action figures in her hand.

"Are you giving them back to me?" Justin's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yupe, I thought I'd spare you the blackmail part." Alex smiled.

"Alex, that's so unusually sweet of you." Justin smiled.

"Yeah, I don't do sweet, but whatever…." Alex smiled. "And don't worry; I took exactly 5 dollars from your wallet, not a dollar more, honest."

"Alex!" Justin yelled.

Alex smiled at her brother. All he could do was smile back.

"Thank you Alex."

"No. Thank you Justin. Cause I found this in your wallet-"Alex said holding out a piece of paper.

Justin panicked. "Those are umm…names of important chemicals for our… chemistry lab. You wouldn't know of course, cause you don't take chemistry. Hand them over now."

"Really Justin, do you think I'm so stupid?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Justin retorted.

"I _know_ those are forbidden spells. And I want you to tell me what those are for." Alex demanded.

"What if I don't tell it to a wizard who is irresponsible, selfish, foolish-"

Alex cut off his ranting. "I'll tell dad you used the forbidden book of spells."

"Well, HE gave me the book for reading… okay, maybe not using… but I'll tell him you wanted the spell too." Justin warned.

"So what? I'm not the good one." Alex smiled deviously. **(List of things Justin hated about Alex: Alex Russo was the princess of blackmailing.)**

Justin sighed. "All right, that's a spell that lets you know whether you are adopted or not."

(Okay, so there are spells for like, everything?) (A/N: if you think that's the lamest thing I've ever written, you clearly haven't read 'Soul mates' : P)

Alex looked at her brother in disbelief. "Yupe, its official, you've totally lost it."

"Alex! I know this looks crazy. But I just need to be sure… you know…"

"All right then just do it!" Alex snapped.

"I can't! I need dad's titanium wand! I'd need someone to sneak it." Justin snapped back.

"Wait a minute, are you asking for my help?" Alex grinned, her eyes thinking with mischief.

"What? No! I didn't say anything about help!" Justin looked away, making a mental note to himself: think twice before you say something in front of Alex.

"But you did say sneak, and that's not your territory!" Alex shoved his arm with her elbow.

"All right Alex, fine, I need your help." Justin admitted. "Now spill. What do you want in return?"

"Cash would be good." Alex smiled mischievously.

"You mean besides the cash that you steal from me, and blackmail me into giving you?" Justin snapped.

"I love how you get me. All right it's a deal then. Think of a plan! Ok never mind I'll do the thinking. Bye!" Alex tried to walk away.

Justin quickly grabbed her arm and stopped her. "No wait- Alex. I want to do it after the family vacation."

"Why?" Alex asked, confused.

"I don't want to ruin our vacation in case…. You know…"

"Fine. But maybe you can make advance payment to me?"

Justin sighed again. "I have two dollars on me now."

"That will do. Remember- its non-refundable. You should never take back what you give someone, that's against the morals."

Justin stared at his sister in disbelief. Alex couldn't help but smile. Justin looked cute when he was mad at her.

"What do you need so much money for anyway?" Justin raised an eyebrow.

"Its girl-stuff, you wouldn't understand. Or maybe you would!" Alex snapped.

Justin narrowed his eyes at Alex. (Partly because he was annoyed, and partly because he wanted her to spill the truth)

"All right fine. You know Mrs. Rocca, the lunch lady? She lost her favourite part of sunglasses. I'm just trying to buy her a new one!"

"Alex, that's unusually sweet of you." Justin stated.

"I know." Alex said in a monotone.

"You lost her sunglasses didn't you?" Justin asked, grinning. He was totally enjoying this.

"What no!" Alex protested, stomping her feet. Justin's grin just got wider. "Okay, fine, maybe I did." She finally confessed. "Can you keep it a secret?"

"Usually, I wouldn't. But sure." Justin smiled. "And Alex?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you sure you don't wanna go on the family vacation?" Justin asked softly.

Alex smirked. "Do you actually want me to come?"

Justin scoffed. "EW, no, why would I want that? I've just been waiting to get rid of you."

"Okay then, see you tomorrow, bye Justin. Good night!"

"Yeah, good night Alex!"

"Don't forget to turn your night-lamp on"

"That's a good one Alex. Thank you. Now get out of here. Good night!"

(A/N: I know this isn't as good as Dollhouse, but please review? :-S )

(BTW, I forgot to mention- today I am opening my website, check it out! .com/hopetwo for anything inspirational)


	4. Ch 3: Comfort

(A/N: yeah, so I'm updating this thing instead of 'Dollhouse' :P I know that this isn't my best story either, but since I started it, I have to get it over, and over before I get caught up with life. So, here you have 3 new chapters! Honestly, I don't have much expectation of reviews from this, but review if you like it?)

Disclaimer: I don't own WOWP. Keep that in mind for the rest of the story :P

**Chapter 3: Comfort (Takes place after the movie)**

It was early in the morning. Alex was awake. Actually, she couldn't sleep. She couldn't sleep ever since she returned from the vacation, ever since she made that horrible wish, ever since the dangerous quest for the stone of dreams, ever since the day Justin lost the wizard competition and had been taken away by that wretched tornado. She had made a wish to make everything just as they were. _But somewhere deep within her, something had changed. But Alex couldn't realize what it was that changed. She has never been the one who thinks so much, let alone analyze her own thoughts_. So, when the sun's gentle rays touched her eyes, there was only place she could think of where she could ask for help- Justin.

Alex crept onto Justin's room to see that he was still asleep, with an innocent, secure, carefree expression in his face that made Alex smile. Maybe she should talk to him later. Maybe she should just begin the day.

And what were the things she wanted to do when she returned from a full on family mode vacation? Alex didn't exactly remember any more. But she knew she had to visit one person- Dean. She hadn't heard from him ever since she went to the vacation. And she did miss him a lot!

////////

**Takes place at Alex's room, in the evening**

Alex was lying on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, tears freely flowing from her eyes down her cheeks, when she heard a knock in her door.

"Go away!" she yelled without even looking.

"Alex-"Justin tried to speak as he entered her room.

"Just leave me alone Justin!" Alex yelled again.

Justin ignored her order (like always) and made his way to lie down beside her.

"What's bothering my baby sister so much?" he asked softly.

"Nothing." Alex lied.

"Alex, you know you can tell me." he said softly.

Alex sighed. There was silence for 2 minutes, during which Alex prepared to speak, and Justin prepared himself for whatever she had to say (_hey, it was possible that she messed up a spell and destroyed Pluto by accident!_).

Alex stuttered. "D-dean broke u-up with m-me to-today…" And with that Alex burst into tears. Justin pulled her into a hug, trying to comfort her.

"It's okay Alex, it really is. I never really liked that jerk anyway. You deserve someone far better than him. Don't cry for him. Come on little girl! Where's that mischievous Alex Russo smile?"

"Justin, he b-broke my h-heart"

"I know that, and he'll pay for it, I promise"

Alex looked at her brother questioningly.

"A small spell wont hurt too much I guess." He smiled.

Alex stared at her brother in disbelief. "Justin, you never break the rules! Why would you do it for me?"

"Because you are my little sister, and I care about you."

"Even when I tease you and taunt you?" she sobbed.

"Even when you tease me and taunt me."

Alex smiled. "You always had my back when I got into trouble."

"That's what big brother's do. But you saved me a couple of times too. You saved my powers from being drained by Miss Evallini." Justin pointed out.

"That was just one time. Usually, I just get you into more trouble." Alex laughed and Justin chuckled at her honest confession. It wasn't everyday that you hear honest words from her mouth! "You helped me many times. Remember when I was failing the magic carpet lessons; you are the one who helped me out!"

"Yeah, I guess I am a pretty good teacher...." Justin went all smug quickly. "And how can you forget that time when you got those pictures out of the museum?"

"That was just one time!" Alex protested. "And it was fun seeing Mona Lisa walk around! But you know what the real fun was? When I charmed mom and dad with TJ's help."

"That was nothing!" Justin scoffed. "You turned them into guinea pigs to hide your report card!"

"Yeah and then- and then I made this horrible wish." Alex's voice dropped at this moment.

"Alex are you still upset about it?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I let you all down. If mom didn't get the stone of dreams we'd have been history!"

"_Technically_, we wouldn't even exist in history." Justin corrected.

Alex glared at her brother. "Even after all this you have to go back to being dorky and know-it all?"

"Hey, you are the one who said everything should be just the way they were!" Justin reasoned.

"I know, but-"Alex sighed- "I guess something did change after all."

"What do you mean?" Justin raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know…" Alex shrugged "I mean……I want us to be friends. I don't want to create new trouble and make your life miserable anymore. I am sorry, it's just that… I never realized how glad I am to have you… and now that I do…. Thank you… for everything..."

"Do you mean everything you said?" Justin asked.

"Yes, of course I do! Why else would I say that?" Alex scoffed.

"Umm, maybe because you like to manipulate me up when you want something?" Justin teased.

"And there, you start being annoying again!" Alex glared again.

"Okay, I'm sorry, but look, you don't have to be sacred of losing me any more, I am not going anywhere. I told you I'd never leave you. "

"Really?"

"Yeah. I have to prepare to win the wizard competition, you know." Justin smiled.

Alex chuckled. "Yeah good luck. It'd be so much fun to beat you again."

"Sure! Dream on." Justin mocked a laugh. "And _hypothetically_, even if you win again, what would you do if you fell in love with a mortal?"

"That would never happen; I would never ever give up my powers for a mortal… I'm glad dad did that… but not me, nope… by the way, thanks for admitting I'll win."

"I didn't say you would win! I said hypothetically. It means-"Justin protested.

Alex rested her head on her brother's shoulder (she had been used to doing that ever since they were kids. They loved fighting with each other, but they loved this knowing silence too.) That sure shut him up. Suddenly, Alex recalled something-

She titled her head a bit to face him. "Hey Justin, remember you wanted to do that spell when we got back?"

"Yeah, I remember." Justin replied looking at her. "But… I'm not doing it…"

"What! Why?" Alex asked. "I knew you'd chicken out."

Justin looked at her in disbelief. Even after all this she wanted to use a forbidden spell? "No, it's because I like my life just the way it is. I don't need to know whether I am adopted or not. My life is perfect now." Justin smiled.

Alex hugged Justin, happy to hear those words from you. "I still get to keep the two dollars you gave me right?"

Justin shook his head in amazement. "Do you always have to ruin all our tender moments?"

"Yupe. That's what sisters are for, genius!" Alex laughed.

There was a long silence. Alex finally relaxed and forgot about Dean. Justin relaxed too.

Justin suddenly had an idea. "Hey Alex, what do you say, one sneak away at the magic carpet, for old times sake?"

"Oh sure-" Alex said, then paused, "wait, there isn't any game on right?"

"Nope. They are fortunate!" Justin retorted.

"Yeah, fortunate they didn't have to see the likes of you flying in a magic carpet looking like a monkey swinging from the branch of some rose tree." Alex snapped back.

"Rose is a HERB Alex, NOT a tree, how can monkeys swing from it?" Justin corrected.

"Oh whatever, I like rose, that's all I need to know. I don't really care if it's a herb or whatever." Alex huffed. "And yeah so maybe monkeys can't, but you should try it."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I've got other things to do" Justin mocked a smile.

"Like what? Run some weird alien language club with Zeke?" Alex smirked.

Justin glared at her. "We like to call it the 'Intergalactic friendship club'"

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd be a good friend to an alien. Or wait; maybe you can be one of them?" Alex smiled cheekily.

"Oh I'd love to, but I'd be too busy designing a robot that can sing." Justin shot back.

"You mean you'd be building a robot wife for yourself?" Alex smiled again.

"You're impossible." Justin sighed in defeat.

"Thank you! Now can we go before I fall asleep from looking at your pumpkin-face?"

(And its so strange how Justin easily made Alex forget that she was upset isn't it?)


	5. Ch 4: Secrets revealed

Chapter 4: Secrets revealed.

**Takes place after the make it happen episode.**

"That was just so awesome! We should so it again!" Alex exclaimed, smiling at Justin.

"Umm, I'd love to, but I can't. Not this week." Justin replied.

"Why not?" Alex stomped her feet, crossing her arms in front of her for emphasis.

"Well sorry if I have to finish my assignment this week for my graduation." Justin snapped.

"But music is fun!" Alex protested.

"Life isn't always about fun, is it Alex?" Justin asked.

"It isn't?" Alex shrugged. "Well it's that way for me."

"I'm not you, am I?" Justin snapped.

"I know. You're not sweet, charming and good-looking like me." Alex smiled.

"I'd ignore the insults for now, but _sweet_?" Justin chuckled. "How can you call yourself sweet Alex? You're the rudest person I've _ever met_."

Alex shrugged. "That's what the cute guys tell me."

"Come on Alex, you're already late for your shift." Jerry shouted from the substation kitchen.

/////

Justin was doing his homework in his room when Alex crept in.

"Hey Justin!" she greeted.

"Umm, hi… Alex?" he looked up at her quizzically.

"What'cha doing?" she smiled.

"I'm just studying about the internal structure of human ear." Justin replied proudly.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Here let me help you."

Alex leant closer to Justin's ear, until she shouted- "BOO!"

"Oww! That was totally uncalled for!" Justin yelled as he clutched his ear. "That could have caused serious permanent damage to my delicate tympanic membrane, making it unsuitable to conduct the sound vibrations to my internal ear, resulting in auditory trouble, even deafness."

Alex deadpanned. "Should I pretend I understood _any _of that?"

"No. why don't you pretend to be busy and GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Justin yelled.

"Okay, Okay, fine. Stop yelling." Alex scoffed. "I _am _busy. I just wanted to ask you to cover my shift at the substation."

"Why?" Justin raised an eyebrow.

"Because I'm going shopping with Harper and Ms. Russell. Duh." Alex rolled her eyes.

"No." Justin shook his head. "I meant why would I cover your shift?"

"Justin! Do you _really_ want me to blackmail you?" Alex smiled deviously.

"Oh I'd love that, but since you haven't done that in like 2 days, I have a feeling that you are currently _devoid of_ any blackmail material. Devoid of means lacking, by the way." Justin had that smug look in his face that Alex totally hated.

Alex rolled her eyes again. "What would you say if I told you I have your scrapbook of the weather lady?"

"YOU FOUND MY SCRAPBOOK?" Justin shrieked. "What! No! I mean…. Alex!"

Alex smiled mischievously. "Is Justin PEPE Russo scared?"

Justin scoffed. "Why…. Would I be… scared?" (And just why again do people stutter when they are nervous?)

"I have to give you some credit Justin, you sure know how to hide your secrets. You have a lot of interesting stuff in there. Hmm I wonder how mom and dad would feel when they find out that you had a crush on me when you were a kid…" Alex said, still smiling.

Justin's face turned red- partly in embarrassment, and partly in anger. "I DID NOT have a crush on you. Eww! And by the way I am talking slowly, which means I do not understand what's happening!"

Alex had the 'you-are-so-busted-Justin' glint in her eyes. "Really? Then why does it say here- 'Alex looked really pretty in the pink princess dress she wore today'. Eww, did mom buy me anything besides pink? Oh, and then it says- 'it felt so good to kiss her cheeks. I just-"

Before Alex could continue reading the dairy, Justin snatched it from her.

"Hey give it back!" Alex protested while trying to snatch it back from him.

"Why should I? it belongs to me!" Justin yelled.

And another great fight began. Alex was the girl, yet she was stronger! Alex was actually winning, until she accidentally tripped and fell to the floor, lying on top of Justin. Justin, taken completely off guard, was at a loss of words. Suddenly Alex noticed the necklace in his neck. "I can't believe you still wear that thing! Its lame, and old."

"Old is gold." Justin managed to find his voice. (why did Alex have to be so heavy? And he thought she lost her baby fat!)

"Whatever. Now would you mind letting go of my waist so that I can get up?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Oh sorry, I-" Justin blushed and then suddenly remembered something-"hey, would you mind explaining WHY exactly you dared to touch my personal belongings?"

"I think you're the one who has some explaining to do, Justin." Alex replied as she got up and dusted off her clothes. "Eww, you touched me, now I'll have to disinfect myself."

"Do you even know what disinfect means?" Justin smirked.

"Nope. But I know its an insult." Alex rolled her eyes. "And try not to change the topic." She smirked.

"Hey, you are the one who changed the topic!" Justin protested.

"ANY WHO" Alex mocked Justin's response from earlier. "Now tell me Justin, did you have a crush on me?"

"You REALLY want me to get there Alex?" Justin smirked.

"I don't know where 'there' is, but sure, bring it on here." Alex deadpanned.

"That didn't make any sense." Justin scoffed.

Alex scoffed. "You're Justin. You know what I mean."

"Fine. I know you had a crush on me when you were seven." Justin stated.

"I did not!" Alex stomped her foot.

"Really? Then can you explain what you meant by 'I wish Justin wasn't my brother.'?" Justin raised an eyebrow.

"What I meant was….ummm…. I don't want an annoying…. Dorky brother like you." Alex bit her lip.

"Really? Then why did you want to dance with me on your seventh birthday?" Justin shot another question her way.

"Because I… arrrgggghhhh…… fine, you got me. I had a crush on you. Do what you will with that, but remember, I can show mom and dad your dairy as well. ….So……" Alex looked away." I can't believe I'm about to say this but, if you keep your mouth shut…. I'll keep mine shut too…."

"That sounds like a hopeful plan. It's a deal."

Alex snorted. "Yeah, thanks for nothing."

"Aren't you getting late?" Justin asked, suddenly changing the topic.

"You mean you'll cover for me?" Alex's eyes instantly lit up.

Justin sighed. "For the last time."

"Thank you!" Alex smiled her famous victorious smile.

(And they both knew this wasn't going to be the last time, or was it?)

////////

**At the mall**

Ms. Russell was returning to California that day. She had a flight at 22.45 hours. And she had decided to pick up some clothes at the last minute. Harper, being the 'glamour girl' as she called herself, tagged along, and dragged Alex with her.

"Why am I here again?" Alex whined.

"Because you're helping me pick the perfect clothes for my rainbow dress with gold and silver wings." Harper replied.

"Okay, fine….. Umm, Harper, can I ask you something?"

"Gosh, Alex, since when did you become so well- mannered?"

Alex shrugged. "Maybe mom is right. I AM spending too much time with Justin. But what will I do? He's such a G-E-E-K!"

"No, Justin's a C-U-T-I-E." Harper protested.

Alex scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Okay, whatever. Look, what I wanted to ask you is- why isn't your aunt married? I mean, she's quite good-looking. Couldn't she find a guy?"

"She was married. They had a divorce some 16 years back." Harper stated.

"Oh so she didn't get along with her husband, okay." Alex replied. "Well, she seems nice. Must have been that stupid guy."

"No, they were really happy." Harper protested. "They even had a kid named Jake. But they lost him at the Boston airport. Aunt Maria never talks about this, but my mom told me that Maria had left Jake with his father, but when they came back he was gone. They couldn't find him anywhere. They blamed each other, and finally, they ended up getting divorced. Even today Aunt Maria is searching for Jake."

"Oh, that's a sad story" Alex replied, feeling genuinely sympathetic. "But how is she going to find him? He would have grown up by now."

"Yeah, I know, but my grandma told me Jake had a 'J' locket around his neck."

"What J locket?" Alex stopped dead in her track.

"You know the usual lockets. I think it was silver, with white stones all over it. And it was hung in a simple silver chain. And the chain also had a 'R' tag n it. You know, R as in Russell. Maria's husband is Russell I think….. or maybe it was because of Maria… then R would be-"

"Ummm, Harper, I think we need to go home." Alex cut her off, suddenly remembering where she had seen such a necklace.

"What! But-"Harper protested.

"Come on Ms. Russell, I have something to show you."

////

Alex dragged Justin by his shirt collar down the stairs, onto the living room, ignoring his protests.

"Alex! What are you doing? I was studying! Alex!" Justin yelled, trying to rid his shirt's collar out of her grasp.

"Umm, Harper, were you talking about THIS?" Alex pointed to Justin's neckpiece.

"Yes! That is it! How did you get that?" Maria exclaimed.

"Umm…… its mine." Justin replied as politely as he could have without sounding completely weirded out.

"That means…..you….you're" Maria stammered as tears filled her eyes.

"Justin is your long lost son Jake." Alex completed.

"What! Alex! What are you saying?" Justin scoffed, and then glared at her. "What exactly are you planning this time? Would you mind explaining?"

"I think mom and dad are the ones who have some explaining to do. Come on." Alex went downstairs to call her mom and dad.

/////

"I found Justin at the Boston airport. He had wandered away from his parents while looking for chocolates. He was little and crying. He could hardly even speak properly….. Your mom felt really sad for him, she decided to give him shelter….. We tried looking for your parents Justin, but we had no clue where to start. You couldn't even say your name! You were really scared….. so when we had a baby girl, we decided to adopt you and raise you as our own son alongside Alex… we named you Justin because you had that 'J' necklace…we tried to tell you many times, but…….." Everyone listened silently as jerry explained his side of the story.

"Well, what has been done cannot be undone." Maria wiped her tears as she spoke. "Past cannot be changed, but we can surely shape the future...... I'd like to take Jake…. I mean Justin, back."

Jerry and Theresa remained silent, and max decided not to speak, since he was clearly confused. But Alex was Alex- she wouldn't get Justin go without a fight.

"What do you mean take him back? Justin's not a thing! You just can't take him away just like that!" she protested.

"Justin is _my_ son. I want him back." Maria stated calmly.

"Oh so one fine day you show up and take _my_ jus-our Justin away!" Alex stomped her feet.

"It wasn't our fault that Justin got lost that day. It was an accident." Maria reasoned.

"Well maybe if you took better care of your son, he wouldn't have got lost!" Alex yelled.

"Alex!" jerry and Theresa glared at their daughter, but she wasn't backing out.

"You cant take Justin away like this! Justin! Justin, say something! Justin! Tell her you don't wanna go, Justin! JUSTIN!"

Justin remained silent, clearly shocked by the revelations and sudden turn of events. Alex began crying. And Justin put an arm around her shoulder by instinct.

"Ummm…. Mr. and Mrs. Russo, thank you so much for taking care of my child so well, but I'd like to have him back now. Let me know what you decide when you calm down. I'll have to leave now. I'm getting late for my flight." Maria spoke again.

"Yeah go away! And don't even dare to come back." Alex managed to yell between her sobs.

"Alex! Shut up!" jerry warned.

Alex ran away to her room, still crying.


	6. Ch 5: I guess this is goodbye

**Chapter 5: "I guess this is goodbye" **

Justin was pacing up and down the room ranting. "How can you guys keep it from me? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Justin, we are sorry…but its just that, we never knew who your real parents are… we never knew how to tell you." Jerry tried to reason.

"So I have to find out I am adopted at the age of _eighteen_? My _entire _life has been a lie. I had always dreamt of becoming the family wizard, and now, now I find out I'm a mortal!" Justin yelled in frustration. "How did you give me those powers anyway?" he asked.

"When we adopted you, you got them as a part of becoming a Russo." Jerry explained.

"So if I go away to stay with my real parents, I'll lose my powers?" Justin asked again.

"Yeah, I guess it works that way." Jerry replied.

"Fine then. You can call the wizard adoption authorities, because I'm ready to give up my powers". Justin replied, calmly yet sternly.

At this moment, Alex interrupted- "wait Justin, does that mean you are leaving?"

"Yeah." Justin replied, not looking at her.

"But then… who will I tease and taunt? You know how I like to make your life miserable." Alex spurted out in a monotone.

"Oh gosh Alex, stop being so selfish at least for once." Justin yelled as he stormed out of the room angrily.

Alex left the room next moment crying.

/////

**Takes place in Alex's room**

Alex was lying on her bed, unable to sleep (dinner was not an option that day) when she heard a knock on her door.

"Go away!" Alex yelled.

"Alex- we need to talk." Justin stated as he entered her room.

"No we don't, why should we? You're not my brother! You want to go off and live with people you just know for a month. Fine, do whatever you want. I don't give a damn." Alex yelled.

"Alex I'm sorry." Justin apologized.

"Why, Justin? Why? Why do you have to go away?" Alex's voice broke, and Justin realized she had been crying.

"Alex, they are my parents. I want to get to know them." Justin reasoned.

"So that's all that matters to you now! Sure! Why would you care about us anymore!" Alex yelled between sobs.

"That's not true Alex. I do love you…. all, a lot. But, it's just that, I wanna find out who I am…" Justin sighed. "Besides, I would have left for college anyways."

"No you wouldn't! I completely ruined your tinker bell play!"

"You did it on purpose?" justin looked at her in surprise.

" I did it unintentionally on purpose." Alex shrugged.

"Why would you do that?" justin shook his head in disbelief.

"Because I didn't want you to go away. I hate to admit this, but I need you Justin. I grew up with you! I can't live without you!" Alex burst into fresh tears.

"I know, Alex. Believe me, its gonna be hard for me too, without you, max, mom, dad-"

Alex cut him off. "-and your powers? How can you give up your powers?"

"Look, Alex, it was a tough choice for me. But, _**sometimes you just have to let go of something great to have something greater**_."

Alex clearly looked confused. Justin smiled. "Living with my real parents is more important to me than magic right now. But hey, cheer up. Now you don't have any competition!" (and thank Max's pancakes that he wasnt present there at that moment!)

Alex hiccupped. "Justin, I'll miss you!"

"I'll miss you too Alex." He sighed again.

Alex sighed and wiped her eyes. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning." Justin stated, not meeting her eyes.

Alex gasped. Why did the wizard authorities have to work so fast? "Why do you have to go away so soon?"

"Because the faster I do, the lesser will be the pain of separation."

"I don't think the pain will be any lesser Justin."

"I know.. It'll hurt at first, but in a few months, you'll get used to this. Trust me." justin took Alex's hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I don't know... Do you REALLY need to go tomorrow?" Alex pleaded with tear filled eyes.

"Yeah I guess..... Besides, it's going to be a bit awkward if i stay here now..." justin said as he looked away.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Why would it be awkward? Justin, you're not making any sense, which is not like you. Its like me!"

Justin just shrugged and smiled. "You'd understand when you grow up."

Alex glared at Justin. Dork. Annoying. Arrggh. "I'm 16."

Justin laughed. And hugged Alex. Alex hugged him back tightly, not wanting to let go of him. Justin gently stroked her hair. Strawberry shampoo....

Justin felt... weird as he took in the scent. He broke apart, suddenly uncomfortable.

"I ummm… I think I should go to bed now. I have my flight at 6 in the morning."

"What?" Alex gasped again. "How can I wake up so early?"

Justin laughed again. And then be became serious. (Like those times when he lectures Alex about the accuracy of science and logic.) "You don't need to, it'll be easier that way."

"Easier for whom Justin?" Alex sobbed.

Justin sighed. "For the future."

Alex sighed too. That didn't leave room for more conversation. "Goodnight Justin."

"Goodnight Alex… take care."

////////

**In the morning**

The entire apartment looked gloomy as Justin prepared to depart. "Honey we're really sorry." Theresa said again.

"I know mom. Don't worry about it. It's okay… I mean, you've been the most amazing mom that I could ever have… and you too dad…"

"We are gonna miss you so much!" jerry sounded almost on the verge of crying. "Excuse me!"

Max smiled, clearly confused. "I dont get it guys. Why are you all upset? I mean, he's just going for a few days."

Justin hated to burst the bubble- "Max, I'm not coming back."

"Coming back where?"

Max! Same old max! Justin sighed. "I'm not coming back here."

Max made his thinking face. "Oh...then. I'll miss you."

Justin smiled sadly. "I will miss you guys too."

At this moment, Alex stormed in. "Am I late? Did he leave already?"

"You woke up early in the morning?" Justin was clearly shocked.

"You thought you could leave without saying goodbye?" Alex snapped back instead of replying.

"No, but I sure hoped." Justin stated.

"Sorry for spoiling your hopes then. I just wanted you to promise me something."

"Yeah?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Promise me you'll mail me every single day." She demanded.

"I promise you Alex." He smiled.

"And reply to all my texts." She added.

"Alex, you know I am not much into texting…" Justin protested.

Alex sighed. "I'll miss your dorkiness." (Is that even a word? But apparently, this wasnt the best moment to argue on that.)

"I'll miss you more!" Justin chuckled.

Alex glared at him. "Even now you have to tease me?"

(And apparently, it was a good moment to argue, according to the king of the dorks.)

"How can I miss the opportunity of annoying you one last time?" Justin smiled.

Last time. Right. Alex looked up at him. "So.. I guess, this is goodbye then?"

"Yeah, I'm getting late for my flight…" Justin looked away.

"Bye Justin, take care.."

"You too Alex, stay out of trouble."

"Sure. How can I run into trouble while you're away?"

"Good one."

"Excuse me, I've gotta get back to bed now." Alex ran away, before anyone could notice the tears in her eyes.

(Justin sure did.)

Alex stood at her balcony, watching Justin and their dad- _her_ dad- get into the cab. The door closed, it was locked, and the engine was started. Justin waved to their mom and Max. And then he did something Alex dreaded- he looked up at her. Alex and Justin's eyes met for two seconds, and Alex couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes anymore. The dam had broken- the 'tough girl cover' was breaking down. Alex cried as she watched the cab drive out of her sight. She then ran into her room and slammed her door shut.

Justin couldn't do this to her! He couldn't leave her like this! He had promised he'd never leave her! This couldn't be true! No!

/////

Justin arrived at the airport and bid farewell to his dad. Before entering the airport, he looked at his favourite city one last time. Everything was just the way it was- perhaps his life was the only thing that had changed.

Justin sat on his plane seat and started reading a book as the flight took off. But he couldn't concentrate. His mind was flooded with pictures of Waverly place, his then mom and dad, max… and… and Alex. Something was weird about the way Justin missed Alex. He couldn't figure out what it was- and that scared him.

Something did change…..

(A/N: Yupe, now I can just walk into jalex. LOL. The next chapter will be jalex, and I hope I can at least hook in a few readers for those chapters, if not reviewers.)


	7. Ch 6: changes

**A/N: Time to update this baby too!**

**Chapter 6: changes**

7 days had passed. Alex still did not receive any email from Justin _(And no, it had nothing to do with her anxiety.)_ He did call up her mom and dad every day, and even talked to max, but he never spoke to Alex (_and Alex didn't care a bit anyway, honest_).

It was 5 in the evening, and Alex was bored. Ever since Justin left, there was not much to do _(read: plotting, planning_). Well, she could pull pranks on max, but he was too dumb to understand those, let aside pay her back. So Alex decided to go online and chat with someone.

Alex logged in when she noticed that Justin was online (_that had nothing to do with why her heart skipped a beat. More importantly, when did she even add Justin in her messenger friend list? Oh wait, probably Justin did that. Apparently 'ihatejustin' wasn't such a good password.)._

Alex didn't know what to do. Should she talk to Justin? Nope. If he didn't want to talk to her, why will she talk to him?

"_Hi Justin_!" (Alex was just trying to annoy Justin, not that she wanted to talk to him badly, that's lame)

"_Hey Al! Wassup_?"

And her heart skipped another beat at her favourite nickname. Stupid heart! Thank god she was chatting and he couldn't see her smile!

"_Nothing. Just wanted to tell you how good it feels to live without you running around everywhere like a dork_." Alex retorted (typed) quickly.

"_I'm_ _glad to hear that. I feel great too_." Was the reply from the other side.

Alex felt tears form in her eyes (_those were because she was angry, not because she was hurt, right?) _

"_Really_?" she typed.

"_Yeah. If that's what you wanna hear_." Justin typed back.

"_No_. enter

_I mean yes_. enter

_Of course_.enter

_What else would I like to hear_?" (where were the mocking smileys again?)

"_Something on the lines of 'I miss u Alex'_?" Justin typed back.

"_Pfft. Why would I think you'd say something like that_?" Alex quickly replied.

"_Because… because I miss you. Don't u miss me_?" Justin questioned.

"_Justin, stop being a dork. You're chatting online, not giving a history test! Because! That's so last century! It's spelled BCOZ_." She totally ignored his question.

"_Denial is not another river in Egypt, Alex_."

And there was silence on Alex's side. (_No not because she was thinking what to say, she was just trying to process what Justin meant by that sentence. She probably should have taken English a bit more seriously.)._

_(And Justin's heart was totally not racing.)_

"_Alee? You there_?"

"_If you miss me, why didn't you email me or call me_?" Alex typed while the tears finally started to flow (_not that he could see her vulnerable, so that was kind of okay_).

And the great silence again. Boring. (_Scary)._

"_I was scared_." Justin posted.

"_Scared of what Justin_?" Alex entered back.

"_I was scared that you didn't miss me_." Justin confessed.

"_Justin, I miss you A LOT_."

No, she didn't just admit it, did she? And you are doomed to a lifetime of teasing Alexandra Margarita Russo. Well done. Why didn't messengers come with an erase button? Wait, what was that time reversal spell? Argghh!

"_Really_?" Justin asked, suddenly feeling excited.

"_No_." Alex lied.

But Justin knew better. "_Well then, do you wanna start emailing_?"

"_Only if u spell bcoz as bcoz_." Alex smiled as she wiped her tears.

Justin smiled to himself. "_Deal_."

* * *

The next day, Alex sent her first email to Justin (She never thought she'd see a day when she'll email Justin. And no, those prank mails don't count.)

"_Hey Justin, wassup? What's going on with life? How's everything with your… parents? We are great too. Ttyl Tc bye. Reply_. (A/N : TTYL is talk to you later, TC is Take care).

_P.S. -_ _miss u_ "(_she was using P.S in email? Great! Welcome to the world of dorks Miss Alexandra Margarita Russo.)_

The reply came within an hour. And it was like 2 pages long. Was she supposed to read it? Seriously, did Justin expect like to read such a long never-ending email?

"_Alex_,

_I know you don't like to read much_"

(He got that right)

"_But this is important. You remember how you reacted when my parents wanted to take me back?"_

(Wow. So it becomes my parents in just a week. Way to go, Justin RUSSELL. Or whatever the heck his name now was… who cares?)

"_Well, I know it's not your fault, and I don't blame you for those….. Choice of words. But the thing is, my parents don't really understand. They- they kind of have a bad impression about_ _you_."

(And who exactly had a good impression about Alex after they got onto her nerves? Come on. They deserved that. They were taking her Justin away- Correction-Her BROTHER Justin away. Yupe, that's what she meant.)

"_So they kind of don't want me to be friends with you. But don't worry, I'll still email you, and call you up at times_."

(Wait. Was Justin breaking the rules?)

"_But we can't meet- they don't want us to_."

(Nope. Same annoying good-boy Justin.)

"_I hope you understand. Email me back. I'll reply when I can sneak in to my dad's computer. Take care bye_."

Yupe she totally understood. And that's why she didn't reply him until he called her up the next day.

And that's how it all began. Justin and Alex began emailing. The mile of distance between them was hard to fill, but absence REALLY makes the hurt grow fonder. Alex and Justin grew closer than they ever were. They shared every little secret among themselves. Their relation changed over the years.

So did their personal lives. Without Justin to help her out of trouble, Alex took magic more seriously. She moved out when she was 19, but kept working (_yes, actually working_) at the substation. For some reason, she had given up her dream of becoming a fashion designer (_Though she graduated in fashion designing_). She had given up drumming long back (read: _when Justin left_). When max became an adult, they took the wizard competition, and Alex won, becoming the family wizard (_no surprise there_).

As for Justin, he had got along really well with his real parents. He graduated in physics, but decided to become the lead guitarist in a rock band! Who would have guessed!

Ten years had passed. Alex was 26, Justin was 28. Their friendship grew stronger over the years, they grew closer than ever (_and that had nothing to do with both of them still remaining single)._

Finally, Justin had managed to coax his parents to let him come home (hey, Russo home was still his home!) once, before going on world tour with his band. (_That was not the reason why Alex was so excited) _

_

* * *

(A/N: _Please review!I'm currently busy with 'Dollhouse' so this can take a while...)


	8. Ch 7: The return

(A/N: Yeah, I'm updating this again cause I have to end all my on-going fanfics before this 28th).

**Chapter 7: The return**

The day for Justin's return had finally arrived. Alex woke up at five in the morning. (Hey, she had a lot of work to do!)

The first one hour was spent on picking the perfect dress. She couldn't decide between jeans and a dress. She couldn't decide between red and black. Finally, she chose to wear a red off-shoulder top with a black skirt and leggings.

At six, she started applying makeup, and it took her about half an hour! And the remaining half hour was spent on doing her hair perfectly. (A_nd she never noticed when 'perfect' decided to enter her dictionary, leaving Justin's_)

And finally it was seven- time of Justin's arrival.

1 minute past 7. No sign of Justin. And Alex's palms were getting sweaty.

2 minutes past 7. Still no sign of Justin. And Alex's heart was pounding so fast that she thought Justin could hear it all the way from the airport or road (_wherever the heck he was)_.

3 minutes past 7. Justin finally entered the substation. "Justin!" Alex squealed as she jumped and hugged Justin. "Oh my goodness what took you so long, Mr. punctual?"

And it was weird how Justin did not hug her back just as tightly, like she had expected him too. _(Not that she cared, anyway, honest_)

Someone in the substation cleared his throat. Justin's father- Mr. Jones. Oh, now it made perfect sense.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, what a great surprise! We didn't really expect you today…." Teresa welcomed them.

"Yeah, what a great surprise." Alex mumbled as she broke away from Justin reluctantly.

"Hello, Mrs. Russo, it's nice to see you too. We just came to drop Justin here; we are staying at Harper's." Ms. Russell-correction- Mrs. Jones replied politely.

"Oh, okay, but we'd love to have you for dinner someday." Teresa offered.

"Of course, Mrs. Russo." Maria replied sweetly again, and then her voice turned serious as she turned to Justin. "Now, Justin, I hope you have a lot of fun in here. But remember everything that we told you back home."

"Sure, mom. Don't worry." Justin smiled. Ever so responsible!

And then Maria's gaze turned to Alex, and her voice became sterner (_if that was even possible_). "And Alex, honey, I know it's none of my business, but you should never hug a guy like that. I mean, it's your life and all that. But... It gives a guy the wrong signals if you know what I mean…"

"I don't know what you mean." Alex replied, as politely as she could manage.

Maria sighed. "Never mind. I just want you to stay away from Justin."

Alex began, "Well, what if I-"

"-We'll remember that, mom. Don't worry." Justin cut her off.

And after that, Justin exchanged goodbyes with his parents. And then Teresa, Jerry and Max rushed in to give him a hug. Alex just stood where she was, anger flowing through her veins. Justin walked up to her and smiled apologetically.

"A 28 year old guy who listens to his parents like a 5 year old would. No wonder you are still single." Alex snapped at Justin.

Justin chuckled. "I come home after 10 years and you start teasing me in 10 minutes?"

"Hey, I have to make up for those 10 years in these 10 days." Alex's face fell at the words 10 days.

And then she snapped back. "And what exactly made you think that you could take decisions for me?"

Justin shrugged. "I don't know. But since I figured that my mom can't dislike you any more than she already does without causing any serious permanent damage to our relationship, I figured its best if you keep your big mouth shut."

_There. The king of dorks was back again._

"Whatever. Come on up to your room now."

Justin opened the door to his old room at the Russo household and noticed it was exactly the way it was when he left 10 years back.

"You like it?" Alex asked.

"Alex, this is great! But how did it remain exactly the same? It looks like someone has been maintaining the room. Was it mom?"

"Nah. She was too busy crying over you."

"Then, dad did this?"

Alex whined. "Justin! I'm not playing the guessing game with you!"

"But I love that game!" he suddenly got excited. "It has a ninety-nine percent chance of increasing your-"

"Oh my goodness Justin I did this okay." Alex said in one breath.

Justin was taken aback. _She did all of this for him?_ "Wow…I'm overwhelmed... I mean, how you did manage to do this, after you moved out?"

"Newsflash. I work at the substation."

"A fabulous fashion designer working at a regular subway sandwich shop. Weird." Justin snapped playfully.

"A physics graduate playing guitar at a rock band. Even weirder." Alex snapped back.

Justin chuckled. "Hey, you are the one who said we should follow our dreams."

"Yeah, but I didn't exactly think YOU would listen…" Alex rolled her eyes. "Anyways, now tell me something- how do I look?"

"What?"

"Just tell me!"

"You look… nice."

"Justin, after all these years of learning up dictionaries, all you could come up with is nice?" Alex blinked.

Justin smirked. "Okay then, how about you look picturesque and exquisite?"

Alex sighed. "Now I like nice better."

Justin chuckled. "No, seriously, Alex, you look great."

_(And if Justin wasn't so busy admiring his room, he would have noticed the blush in Alex's cheeks)_

"This room looks perfect!" Justin exclaimed.

"No thank you Alex?" Alex smiled.

Justin chuckled. "How about a thank you hug?"

With that Justin leaned in to hug Alex, but she pushed him back- "Justin, remember what your mom said?"

"Yeah?"

"She asked you to stay away from me."

"_Technically_, she asked YOU to stay away from ME." Justin corrected.

Alex glared at him.

"But, she also asked me to have fun. And the only fun in this house is you. So if I push you away and don't have fun, I'll be disobeying mom!" Justin flashed a mischievous smile at Alex.

"Nice job of twisting of facts! Way to go Justin! You sound just like me! Finally you're learning something! " Alex grinned.

"Thanks. Now I believe you owe me my welcome back hug?"

Justin and Alex smiled at each other mischievously. Life was fun again.

"So. Do you want to go out today or tomorrow?"

Justin thought he needed his dictionary to recheck the meaning of "go out" again. But he ignored the urge of opening his pocket dictionary for the moment.

"No I can't go out….side the house."

"Why not?" Alex was confused.

"Fan girls." Justin stated.

"What! You mean we are stuck in here because of your stupid fan girls?" Alex yelled.

"Basically, yeah."

"Great. Well then I guess-"

Alex was cut off by Teresa entering the room. "Alex! You're still here! You should give your brother some time to rest"

"Mom, I thought max was already asleep." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Alex! You don't need to hurt Justin all the time!" Theresa scolded.

"What! What did I do now?" Alex crossed her arms, like she used to, ten years back.

"Just because he left to live with his real parents doesn't mean he isn't your brother anymore."

Alex was clearly at a loss of words. Justin filled in for her. "No its okay mom, we've agreed to be friends. Frankly, brother and sister isn't working for us anymore."

"What do you mean?" Theresa asked.

Justin shrugged. "I don't know. It's just weird."

Justin gave Alex the 'do something' look. And Alex immediately jumped into action. "Mom, slow down. Don't you think a.. loving and … caring mom like you should give her son some time to rest? Give Justin some time to rest. I mean, he must be pretty tired from his trip."

"Yeah. I guess you are right. And that's what I was telling you Alex. Take some rest Justin." Teresa patted his shoulder and left the room. "Alex, aren't you coming?"

"Yeah mom, I'll catch up with you in the kitchen in a minute."

"Okay."

After Teresa left, Justin looked at Alex suspiciously. "What do you want now?"

Alex smiled that 'I'm evil' smile again. "Something that I wanted to do all these years."

Alex stepped in closer to Justin. Too close. Invasion of personal space! But Justin couldn't find his voice for yelling at her cause his throat was chocked. He was breathless, heart racing, as he looked at Alex.

Alex stepped on her tiptoes and put her mouth near Justin's ears.

And Justin's heart stopped beating at that moment.

And then. "BOO!"

Alex shouted in Justin's ears!

Justin jumped back in shock.

"Gotcha!" Alex laughed, before running away.

Justin sank back into his bed. Why was there sweat in his forehead?

* * *

**Russo living room, evening**

"Alex, Justin told me you've been playing pranks on him again!" Theresa exclaimed as soon as Alex entered the room. Alex shrugged. "Alex! I thought you'd act in a more mature way towards Justin!"

"Mature? Oh please mom! Justin sleeps with his teddy bear!" Alex protested.

"You've been watching him sleep?" Theresa freaked out.

"Eww, no. I fell asleep that day when he started talking about sine something…"

"Synovial fluid". Justin glared.

"Yeah whatever." Alex scoffed. "When I woke up, I saw you were sleeping with your teddy bear."

"Hold on minute guys, how do you see each other on the phone? You've gotta teach me this!" Max asked, suddenly excited.

"Max, we were chatting on web cam." Justin explained slowly. "WEB- CAM."

"Wow Alex, you never told me about this!" Theresa complained.

"Mom, I'm twenty-six, I don't need to tell you everything, do I?" Alex snapped.

"Alex! Be nice!" Justin snapped back at her.

"I don't do nice." Alex stuck out her tongue at Justin.

"I'm still confused guys." Max said, making his thinking face. "Why would you guys chat on web cam? You text each other every ten minutes. And you talk every hour…. Well, except when Justin's too busy with his concerts. Point is, if you stay in touch all day, why do you need to chat on web cam?" max was thinking too much, and he just totally gave out too much of Alex's secrets. What was that time rewinding spell again? Argghh, ten years and it was still the same!

"Max, we chat on the web cam at night." And Justin just totally gave out the one last secret that Alex wanted to keep. Way to go genius!

How was Alex going to explain this to her parents?

"What? So you fall asleep during your work hours at the substation because you chat with your brother all night?" jerry looked shocked.

Not the b-word again, he's not her- wait, this can work for now.

"Yes daddy!" Alex faked her best innocent smile. Justin chuckled. Alex glared at him.

"Alex, you told me yesterday that Justin isn't your brother anymore!" Max pointed out.

Could max get any more annoying? How was she going to explain that to her mom and dad? Heck- how was she going to explain that to Justin? Alexandra margarita Russo- you are doomed to embarrassment for your entire lifetime.

"I did not!" Alex scoffed.

"Yes you did, you said that-"max tried to recall.

"Umm, max, I think what your sister meant is I'm not her REAL brother anymore." Justin cut him off, and thankfully max seemed to believe him. Justin could be such a life saver sometimes!

"But Justin, if she had such an embarrassing video, why didn't she use it to blackmail you?" Max was thinking way too much. Somebody, please, shut him up, somehow!

"Umm, she did blackmail me into... Ummm... buying her a...a..." Justin wasn't sure if he should complete that sentence.

"New dress." Alex completed for him. Justin glared at her. Alex shrugged.

"What dress? I haven't seen it! That's not Fair guys!" Max complained.

"You don't want to see everything I own do you Max? Didn't think so." Alex put on her best fake innocent smile at Max and then winked at Justin.

"Okay kids, its time for lunch now. I made Justin's favourite food!" Theresa cut in just in time before max could ask another question.

"Pumpkin pie?" Justin became totally excited.

"Eww." Alex and max made a face at the same time.

Some things never change!


	9. Ch 8: Denial

(A/N: this is cheesy. The Spanish thing is corny. I hate that part myself. So don't worry if you hate it too... :P I wrote this fic 3 months back, you can tell that of course :P)

**Chapter 8: Denial **

"_I'll tell you how it is_

_I never wanted to be here with you._

_And now to think of you, is all that I can do_

_You make me crazy._

_And its so, so I'm in denial_

_Oh oh oh, I'm in denial."_

_-Emily Robins, Elephant princess_

**Later that night**

Justin was sleeping peacefully, having a nice dream (_about Alex_), when suddenly he heard a noise. "What? Where? Captain Jim Bob help me!" Justin woke up in his bed to find Alex staring at him, a smirk visible in her face.

"Alex what are you doing?" Justin whispered as loudly as he good.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Sneaking into your room at the middle of the night, duh." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Get out of here! You are gonna wake up mom and dad!" Justin whispered angrily.

"No I'm not, but if you keeping screaming like this, you sure will." Alex hissed.

Justin gave her the 'are-you-crazy' look. "After antagonizing my parents, are you trying to antagonize yours too?"

"See, I don't listen to you because you talk with big words that say ants. And dude, I never knew you speak Spanish in your dreams." Alex had a smirk over her face again.

"What!" Justin scoffed. "I don't speak in Spanish in my dreams!"

"Really? Cause I heard you say 'Alex, esti enamorado di ti.'"

"Umm, actually it's 'estoy enamorado de ti'(*I'm in love with you)". Justin said with a smug look.

"Newsflash, I don't speak Spanish. So when you talk to me even in your dreams, you'll have to speak in English." Alex rolled her eyes again, but there was a mischievous glint in them. Something was fishy.

"por mí, ningún problema" Justin replied again with the smug look in his face.

"Justin this isn't funny!" Alex whined.

"por mí no hay ningún problema (*That's fine by me)" Justin replied again.

"¡ahora sí que ya está bien! (*All right that's enough!). no está bien tratar así a la gente (*It's not right to treat people like that!)" Alex replied now with a smug look in her face.

Justin looked wide eyed. "How did you…..?"

Alex smiled evilly. "Gotcha, didn't I? I learnt Spanish in the last 5 years, so don't think you can fool me."

Justin groaned. "Did you understand…. everything?"

Alex smiled evilly again. "sí, amor(*Yes my love). If I knew you'd say something like that, I would have brought my recorder. I can't believe I lost such a valuable blackmail material! But I still think this Spanish thing is a bit too cheesy. Next time Justin, try proposing me in English. "

Justin looked scared. What was he going to do now?

Alex burst into laughter. "Come on, what's up with that joker face? You look like you want to throw up. It's so hilarious you'll kill me now!"

Justin mocked a laugh. "Oh Alex, you've officially run out of insults. You have been using that for like 15 YEARS?"

"I know, but these are gold. Timeless." Alex smiled.

"Yeah but maybe- wait, what are you doing in my room at the middle of the night?" Justin changed his voice into the over-protective big brother tone.

Alex pouted. "I just wanted to talk."

"If you haven't noticed, we've been talking like ALL DAY." Justin tried not to yell.

"Yeah, but that was with so many people around. I just wanted a one-on-one talk." Alex pouted again.

"Okay…" Justin finally gave in. (**list of things Justin hates about Alex Russo: Alex can pout like that to make him do anything she wants**.)

"You begin the conversation." Alex said as she settled her head on Justin's shoulders.

"I don't think telling Max that I bought you a dress was a good idea." Justin sounded serious.

"Why not?" Alex asked non-chalantly.

"I don't know….its just that… people might get a wrong impression." Justin reasoned, still sounding serious.

"People? It's just Max." Alex scoffed.

"I know, but….. I don't really like lying…."

"That wasn't a lie. We were just not telling him the entire truth." Alex winked at him.

"Alex-"Justin warned.

"Justin. NOBODY should know that you bought me a book. It'll totally ruin my reputation." Alex threatened.

"Yeah, I get it, but why a dress? Couldn't you think of anything else?" Justin asked, fidgeting with his fingers.

"What's wrong with dress?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Oh nothing, just that, the last dress AND every other dress that YOU bought with MY money was WAY TOO SHORT."

Alex shoved him with her elbow. "Justin, stop yelling, someone may hear you!"

"I'm not yelling! You're just really close to me now. Too close if you ask me." he muttered.

"Fine then hit the floor." Alex snapped.

"What? Why should I hit the floor?" Justin snapped back.

"Because you don't want to stay here with me." Alex gave him the 'duh' look.

"I didn't say I didn't want to." Justin pointed out.

"So you do like snuggling with me?" Alex smirked.

"Alex-" Justin warned.

"How many more years will you take to make a move Justin? Last time I checked, it's been like 8 years already." Alex teased.

"12." Justin muttered silently.

Alex titled her head to look at Justin's face. "You like me for 12 years? That means-"

"Eww, no!" Justin groaned. "I meant I need 12 MORE years.

"What's in 12 years, dude?" Alex laughed in amusement, and leaned against the headboard.

"I'll be 40, old, grey-haired and you'll officially lose all interest in me?" Justin smirked.

"Dork." Alex rolled her eyes. "Firstly, I am not interested in you. I'm just teasing you. And second, will it hurt you so much to admit that you like me?"

"Yeah. I'll be _constrained_ to be your slave." He replied in his 'I-hate-you-so-much' tone.

"Newsflash Justin, you are ALREADY _con-whatever_ my slave." Alex scoffed.

"Is it just me or do you think we are talking absolutely rubbish now?" Justin asked, shifting slightly to glance at the watch.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know this was rubbish Justin. I thought I was important to you." Alex snapped, throwing a pillow in his direction that missed his face by a few inches.

"What! No!" Justin groaned again. "That's not what I meant. Come on Alex, you know what I meant."

"You meant to change the subject, right?" Alex asked.

"Yeah." Justin nodded.

"Well, I don't." Alex looked at him sternly.

"Alex-"

"I know you like me Justin. Now it's for you to decide how long you're gonna be in denial."

"HYPOTHETICALLY, even if I liked you, it wouldn't make any difference. You can't stand me OR my family."

"Correction- I hate your family in a hate-hate way, and I hate you in a love-hate way. So it's not the same."

Justin sighed. "Alex, you know my parents would never agree. And yours would be totally freaked out. And max- I don't know what he'll do when he finds out that-"

"Justin! Stop over thinking! It's not about them! It's about us!"

"Maybe it is, but you just can't hurt your family like that and be happy. We can't be so selfish."

"I'm not saying we should be selfish." Justin raised an eyebrow questioningly. Alex quickly smiled- "I'm saying that maybe I can just charm them."

Justin scoffed. "Do you even know the charming spell?"

"No, but I'm sure you still remember it." Alex scoffed.

"No way, I'm not getting involved in this. And you're not charming anyone Alex. Last time I checked when you charmed mom and dad, max ended up in MARS."

"He-hehe" Alex giggled evilly, "That was fun!"

"Yeah, it was sure funny to see you grounded." Justin retorted.

"Justin, have you ever noticed that we still fight like kids?"

"Yeah, I guess some things never change….." Justin sighed.

"Justin…?"

"Hmm?"

Alex tilted her head to look at him. "Why did you do this?"

"Do what?"

"Why did you leave me?" Alex accused.

"Alex, look I'm sorry about-"

"You promised me you'll never leave me. You-"

"Alex-"

"You left me all alone." She looked away.

Alex's voice broke. Justin forced her to look into his eyes. He saw tears forming in them.

"Alex, I never thought I'd hurt you so much."

"Are you kidding me? You nearly killed her!" Alex and Justin quickly jumped apart at the sound of Max's voice.

"Max, what the heck are you doing here?" Alex almost yelled.

"I could ask you the same!" Max yelled back.

"You two keep it down! You'll wake up mom and dad!" Justin hissed.

"Fine!" Alex and max yelled in unison.

"Now Max, what were you saying?" Justin questioned him.

Max made his thinking face. "Oh yeah, I remember now! I was saying that you almost killed Alex. She locked herself in her room for a month-"

"Um, max, I was grounded." Alex corrected.

"Yeah, that was for 2 weeks. You were still crying after that. You didn't eat much, and you looked like you haven't slept in ages." Max completed.

Justin sighed. "I- I'm sorry Alex, honest. Let me make it upto you."

"Really? Good idea. Meet me at the lair in the morning." Alex grinned evilly.

"Alex, we are not charming mom and dad." Justin protested.

"Nope, I've got a better idea." Alex replied, still grinning. "Goodnight max, goodnight Justin." Alex ran away after giving Justin a quick peck in the cheek, leaving both Max and Justin startled.

"Dude, I think she's totally into you." Max said with a 'know-it-all' look.

Justin scoffed. "And how do YOU know that?"

"Well, she's my sister." Max held up his hands. "I'm tired bro. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight."

Justin lied back in his bed, still thinking. Would it be correct if he wanted to date his ONCE adopted sister? Wouldn't his parents and his then adopted parents freak out?

Most importantly, were they really falling for each other? Was he actually in denial? He knew Alex was just teasing him about the crush. Was she even serious? Did she even mean the things she said?

* * *

_**Day 2**_

Justin woke up in the morning and noticed it was already 9! He quickly ran downstairs!

"I'm so sorry I'm late. SOMEBODY forgot to wake me up." Justin glared at Alex.

"Oh so your alarm clock fell asleep?" Alex smiled.

"I thought you'd wake me up with your calls like you do everyday. Or maybe walk up to my room and shake me up?" Justin replied with a fake smile.

"And hear you speak Spanish in your dreams again?" Alex smirked. Justin glared at her.

"What! Justin speaks Spanish in his dreams? That's great honey!" Theresa smiled, suddenly excited.

"That reminds me! Alex, you didn't tell me what we were doing in Justin's room last night." Max raised an eyebrow. Justin gulped.

"What did it look like we were doing max? We were talking, duh." Alex snapped quickly.

"Good, cause I thought you were kissing." Max smirked. Justin choked on his drink. Oops.

"What!" Alex scoffed. "Who would want to kiss the king of the dorks?"

"But you kissed him on the cheek last night." Max smirked again.

"On the _cheek_. And it was a dare. And Justin owes me 5 dollars." Alex winked.

"I do?" Justin tried to protest, Alex gave him the 'play along' look. Justin gulped again, "oh yeah, I do, that was totally a dare."

"Why would you dare her to-"Max questioned again, but was cut off when Alex 'accidentally' spilled tomato sauce in his shirt.

Justin glared at Alex. She simply shrugged.

* * *

**Later at the lair**

"That was close! Phew!" Justin smiled. "I never thought your sneaky ideas would ever save me."

Alex laughed. "I know. Neither did I. But Justin, aren't you forgetting something?"

Justin raised an eyebrow, and then turned around to look at the familiar magical place he had left years back, taking in the familiar feeling of magic and fantasy.

"My five dollars." Alex grinned.

"I dare you to take it from me." Justin smirked.

"That's fine with me." Alex rolled her eyes.

She tried to reach Justin's back pocket but he dodged.

"I'm too fast for you Alex?" Justin teased.

"You wish!" Alex snapped back as she threw a pillow at him.

Justin dodged again. Alex groaned in frustration. "That's it!" Alex tackled Justin. He was caught totally off guard. And both of them landed on the floor, Alex on top of Justin.

"Ow!" Justin groaned. "My medulla oblongata!"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Can you just-"

Alex lost her voice when her eyes met Justin's. This was one of those boring moments in those stupid romantic movies that she hated watching (but she kind of liked this moment).

"Alex?" Justin asked in a much husky voice.

"Hmm?" Alex bit her bottom lip.

"Can you….." Justin cleared his throat. "Can you GET OFF ME!" Finally he found his brotherly voice back. Phew!

"You know, I should REALLY order cupid for you." Alex laughed.

"To shoot me with an arrow so that I fall in love with you?" Justin smirked.

"Ew, no. To shoot the girl you like with an arrow 'cause it looks like you surely don't know how to make a move. You should really write a book on how to ruin perfectly romantic moments."

"You mean how to ruin perfectly romantic moments with you SISTER?" Justin snapped back.

Alex mocked his tone. "TECHNICALLY Justin, I'm NOT you sister."

"Alex-"

Alex cut him off with a dismissive wave of her wand. "Stop right there. I don't wanna hear your 'why this is wrong' and 'why I should stop teasing you' speech again."

Justin sighed. "Okay, then would you mind telling me what we are doing here?"

"Oh sure." Alex shrugged and moved to a shelf to look for something. "Since we can't go out because of you stupid fan girls-"

"Why do you always call me fans stupid? Wait I minute!" Justin smirked. "Alexandra, are you jealous?"

Alex glared at him. "Don't ever call me Alexandra again."

Justin narrowed his eye-brows. "That wasn't my answer."

Alex rolled her eyes and chose to ignore him. "So I was thinking that maybe we can hang out in my magic journal."

"What! No wait Alex-"

"Literanium terranium."

(A/N: I probably messed up the Spanish thing, huh? We dont have Spanish here. *shrug*)


	10. Ch 9: Fairytale

**Chapter 9: Fairytale**

_Time slows down whenever you're around yeah yeah…_

_But can you feel this magic in the air? ….._

_Today was a fairytale_

_-Taylor Swift_

"Literanium terranium".

"Alex! Alex! NO!"

And with that Justin and Alex went inside Alex's magic journal.

"What did you do!" Justin yelled.

"I just executed the spell perfectly?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "you're welcome."

"You know Alex, last month you turned my guitar into a wooden block. I don't think magic is your thing." Justin retorted.

"HE-he-he" Alex laughed evilly. "That was really fun. Relax, Justin! I know the spell to get out. And even if I mess up, you're right here."

"Sure, but there's just one small problem- I AM NOT A WIZARD ANYMORE." Justin yelled.

"Good for you. Now you don't have to date centaurs, werewolves or vampires." Alex snapped.

Justin glared at Alex. Alex simply shrugged. "I think it's a pretty cool place. Just take a look around."

Finally, Justin looked around. It was indeed a beautiful place. It was an open field, full of mustard trees dancing in the breeze. The sky was soft, soothing, and blue with smooth, white clouds. It was so un-Alex-like. Justin was pleasantly surprised.

"Alex, this is perfect."

"I know. But if you don't like this, I can still transport us somewhere else." Alex shrugged again.

"Alex, magic travel is dangerous. You may transport yourself 10000 kilometers in space, or into the molten core of the earth, or-"

Alex cut off his ranting. "-See, you are such a killjoy. Magic was such a waste with you. "

"You know what? This place is so nice that I don't even feel like arguing with you. Maybe we should just keep quiet and enjoy the sunset."

"You mean I don't have to listen to your dork speech? That sounds good to me." Alex smiled at him. "But it's still kind of too silent and boring. Maybe we should have some music."

"Yeah, that's a great idea." Justin agreed. "Too bad I don't have my guitar."

"Yeah, too bad." Alex grinned. "Transportium guitarium. Here you go. You're welcome."

"Alex-"

"Sing something non-dorky." Alex ordered.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. You are the musician, it's your call." Alex rolled her eyes.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this." Justin sighed as he sat beside Alex with his guitar. He started playing a soft, slow, romantic song. He expected Alex to complain, but oddly enough, she kept quite throughout the song. She even rested her head on Justin's shoulder. When Justin finished playing the song, he noticed that Alex was asleep. Oh, so that's why she never complained!

That's when he noticed how good it felt to be near Alex (though he'd never admit that). This moment was perfect- it was Paradise.

He slowly planted a kiss on her forehead. Alex slowly opened her eyes. "Justin?"

"Good morning sleepy head." Justin smirked.

"What happened?" Alex asked as she slowly got up on her feet.

"You fell asleep." Justin stated as he got up too.

"Oh. Next time Justin, believe me when I say you're boring. Seriously, what were you thinking? I HATE sappy songs." Alex yawned for emphasis. "I'm getting kind of hungry in here. Maybe we should get some food." She suggested, taking out her wand again.

Justin quickly snatched it from her. "OR maybe we can go outside the journal and eat lunch. Mom's gonna be pretty mad when she finds out we were gone."

"Relax, its gonna be all right. Literium terranium."

And with that Justin and Alex finally returned back into the liar.

Alex closed her magic journal and shoved it into a drawer. "Come on, let's get to the kitchen. Are you waiting for a lunch invitation or something?"

"There you guys are. I was worried Alex got you into trouble again." Theresa cried as soon as they entered the living room.

"What! Why would I get him into trouble? That is totally not fair!" Alex protested, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Don't worry mom, since we are _still alive_, Alex didn't get us into trouble." Justin said as he let out a small chuckle, receiving an instant glare from Alex.

"Where were you two anyway?" Max asked, still eating a sandwich, "And didn't you take me with you." He complained.

Justin looked at Alex. Alex began. "We were umm… catching up… on stuff…."

"What stuff?" jerry asked.

"Stuff." Justin replied, not wanting to explain anything more.

Theresa just shrugged. "Come on, lunch is ready. Dig in."

"So, what do we do now?" Justin asked, sitting down on Alex's chair.

"I was thinking about dying your hair red." Alex declared, flipping through the pages of some random magazine.

"WHAT!" Justin shrieked, jumping up from the chair instantly.

Alex looked up at him and burst into laughter. "That was so much fun!"

"That's not funny Alex." Justin scolded. "Even as a joke."

"Well, I found that _hilarious_." She laughed again, settling down comfortably on her bed. "Let's talk."

"Okay" Justin began, "what do you wanna talk about?"

"Anything." Alex said, but added quickly, "anything NOT related to science."

Justin smiled. "Okay…so…. I've never been to your apartment."

"That's because you're scared of magical travel." Alex snapped.

"Those are dangerous, specially when a irresponsible, reckless wizard OR WITCH is performing the spell." Justin snapped back.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If you wanna get there, we'd _have to_ use magic. We can't go out without your 'fan-girls' annoying us." she said, using air-quotes around 'fan-girls', and carefully dropping the word 'stupid' this time.

"Fine." Justin raised his hands in the air and sighed. "See you soon if I'm alive." He teased.

Alex glared at him and then grabbed her wand.

"Okay, here we are." Alex announced, keeping her wand back in her boot.

Justin looked around in horror.

"What?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"This place looks even messier than your room back in those days." Justin teased, "And I thought that wasn't possible!"

Alex glared at him again and then smirked as she got an idea. "If you don't like it, then why don't _you_ clean it up?"

Justin eyed her quizzically. "That sounds like…a _challenge_?"

"Yupe. It is a challenge." Alex smiled, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Well then, I have to say, I'm on it. I've always _loved_ challenges." Justin had a smug look again.

"Okay then, start with the bedroom." Alex ordered as she walked over to the kitchen. "I'd make us some coffee."

"You know how to make coffee?" Justin widened his eyes in mock surprise. Alex threw a cushion at him.

"Get to work already, unless you're scared of losing, loser." She retorted.

Justin entered her room and stumbled immediately. There were clothes all over her floor, and magazines scattered randomly everywhere.

He proceeded to pick up the magazines first. He noticed the first one was about his band. The second one was about his band's concert. The third one was about his band's interview. Most of the other magazines were about his band as well, and a few were fashion magazines. He opened one of the magazines and turned to their band's page. He saw his picture with a few additions- _Alex had drawn him a moustache and two horns on his head with a black pen._ He couldn't help but smile at her childishness.

He piled them up and placed them in her work desk (after cleaning it up.)

He then proceeded to pick up her clothes. There were jeans, skirts, leggings and tops everywhere. He groaned as he folded them neatly and placed them in her messy wardrobe. Alex returned almost an hour later. By that time, the place looked clean.

"So, it takes one hour to make coffee?" Justin teased immediately.

Alex glared at him. "I was being generous and making you a sandwich."

"Did you poison it?" he asked playfully, grinning, as he took the sandwich in his hands.

"No, but now I think I should have." Alex snapped back, placing the coffee on the bed.

"Alex, no! It can fall and make a stain on the bed-sheet." Justin scolded.

Alex shrugged. "So? I'll just use a spell and clean it up."

Justin sighed as he took a sip of the coffee. "I cleaned your room. You can say thank you now."

"For what?" Alex said in a tone of surprise.

"For cleaning your room?" Justin asked in disbelief.

"It's not clean yet." Alex protested, grinning.

"What are you talking about?" Justin scoffed.

Alex smirked as she motioned at the floor.

_Oh. Underwear._

"Alex," Justin warned, "I'm not folding that."

"I know," Alex laughed at Justin's petrified look, "I don't want you to, don't worry, but you just totally lost the challenge." She continued laughing as she placed her legs in his lap, placing her feet near his nose for further annoyance.

Justin scrunched up his nose at the disgusting smell of her socks. "Ew, Alex, you need to wash these things sometimes."

Alex smiled again. "I washed the other pairs. I saved this one for annoying you."

Justin blinked at her for a minute before deciding on changing the topic. "So, you live all alone in this place…" he said, more of a statement than a question.

"Duh." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Don't you feel scared?" Justin asked, suddenly showing concern.

"Scared of what?" she asked.

"I don't know… burglars, thieves, etc…" Justin stated, looking at her room.

"Justin. I'm a wizard." Alex reminded him, in an irritated tone.

"I know, I know." Justin straightened up quickly, "But what I'm saying is, it must be pretty boring and difficult living alone?"

Alex shrugged.

Justin sighed and finally looked into her eyes. "Aren't you planning about… um… marriage yet?"

"I don't have a boyfriend" Alex replied in a monotone, showing no emotion.

"Yeah, I know, I understand." Justin assured quickly. "But your parents are pretty worried about you."

Alex sighed and leaned against the headboard. "I know. Mom keeps talking about my marriage everyday. But I'm just 26. There's still plenty of time."

Justin nodded in understanding. "I know, but maybe you should start dating someone from now on…. You know, just to make sure he's the right guy before you marry him."

Alex tilted her head to look at him. "Are you giving me advice on love and dating?"

"Yeah?" Justin asked, suddenly unsure about where this conversation was going.

Alex cracked up.

"What's so funny?" Justin frowned.

"I don't know. How about this- I'm getting love advice from a guy who's himself still single?" Alex teased.

Justin protested. "Hey, I'm single because I'm busy with my career."

Alex held up a hand to cut him off. "And then what? You'd marry a girl your mommy would pick for you?" she teased again.

"Maybe." Justin smirked playfully.

Alex stared at him in disbelief, and then pulled him closer to her by his shirt's collar. "Don't even think about that. Your mom knows you for the last ten years. She doesn't know what kind of girl you'd like. If you go by her choice, you'd end up making a wrong decision."

Justin eyed her features quizzically, "Are you_ jealous_, Alex?"

"Pfft. Why would I be jealous?" Alex scoffed. "As if I'd ever want to-"

She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed their faces were just inches away. She looked into his gray eyes and instantly felt heat rise in her cheeks. Justin looked back at her as well, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers meanwhile.

Suddenly, she cleared her throat to break their trance. Justin jumped up from her instantly and got up from the bed. "Umm..sorry." he apologized.

"Yeah. Whatever. Let me show you the other room." Alex said as she straightened her top and fixed her hair again.

"How many rooms do you have?" Justin asked, deciding it was best to change the topic.

"Well, this and my living room." Alex announced.

"I've already seen your living room." Justin pointed out.

Alex shrugged. "well then, there's nothing more for you to see in here. Wanna go home?"

Justin nodded quickly, still unable to think clearly, his mind still clouded by the almost kiss. "Okay, let's go home."

"Wait," Alex stopped him immediately.

"What now?" Justin raised an eye-brow and sighed.

"I need to pick something to wear when your mom comes for dinner." Alex uttered.

"Okay." Justin shrugged. "Go ahead."

Alex looked at him in disbelief. "You've gotta help me pick."

"Okay," Justin replied, as his throat suddenly felt dry.

"Do you think she'd like this?" Alex asked, picking up a long evening gown.

Justin smirked as he leaned against the wall. "You actually care about what my mom would like?"

Alex glared at him. "No. I care because if I annoy your mom again, my mom will be mad at me. They'd probably cut my salary."

Justin smiled and nodded.

"So?" Alex held up the gown again and then she had an idea. She muttered a spell and wore the gown magically.

"Umm, I don't think she'd like that." Justin rejected it. "It looks too bright."

"Okay then, how about this?" Alex asked as she put on a dress.

Justin gulped. "umm.. it's… it's too short…"

"So?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"It'd.." Justin fidgeted with his fingers for a second before finally blurting out. "It'd make you look hot."

Alex blinked a few times and then titled her head to a side. "Did you just call me hot?"

"What? No…" Justin stuttered as he ran a hand nervously through his hair.

Alex smiled deviously. "I'm **so** wearing this."


	11. Ch 10: The stupid spell

**Chapter 10: stupid spell  
**

"There you guys are!" Theresa exclaimed as soon as they teleported into the living room. "I thought you'd be late for dinner as well. Where did you guys go now?"

"Relax mom," Alex smiled, "I was just showing Justin my apartment."

"And making him clean it up," Justin said as he shot a fake smile in Alex's direction.

"What!" Theresa cried again, "Alex! Justin's here for vacation. Give him some rest!"

"Hey, it's not my fault, he's the one who thought it was messy!" Alex protested as she held up her hands in the hair. "This is totally not fair."

"Mom! Dinner!" max yelled from the kitchen.

Theresa sighed. "We'll talk about this later. Let's go."

"Way to go genius! Mom just totally cut off my salary!" Alex smacked Justin playfully in the shoulder as she entered his room.

"Ow!" Justin yelped in pain.

"Don't tell me that hurt!" Alex shook her head.

"No. It's not your weight. You have big pointed fingernails." Justin verified.

"Wow. Never thought _that_ would come in handy this way!" Alex chuckled. "Well, that's what you get for ruining my salary."

Justin smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't know they'd cut your salary… let me make it up to you."

Alex thought for a moment and then sat down on his bed, motioning him to sit down as well. Justin nodded and went to the other side.

"I want to try the truth spell on you." Alex announced, grinning visibly.

"WHAT!" Justin shrieked. "Why!"

"Because I want to find out your secrets? Duh." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Alex. No. you can mess up the spell!" Justin protested.

Alex glared at him. "Relax, it's gonna be fine." Alex assured. "_Some are evil, some are kind, but now all must speak their mind_."

"You've been using way too much magic Alex!" Justin shouted and then the truth spell hit him. "I wish you'd learn your lesson someday."

"Not gonna happen." Alex stuck out her tongue. "That shirt looks cute on you." She blurted out suddenly. Oops. "_Gosh, I did not just say that_!"

"Thanks," Justin smiled. "And you look great in every single dress," he spurted out in a single breath. Oops. "_What did I say_!" he cursed under his breath.

Alex panicked. "Do you know how long the spell lasts?"

"No." Justin replied briefly, and then blurted out again, "I wish you were still staying with me. _What am I saying_?"

"Sometimes I wish that too," Alex confessed. "_What am I saying_!"

"Then why don't you come live with me?" Justin asked. "_Stop talking Justin_!"

"I want to. But your mom won't let me stay." Alex confessed again. "_No, not that_!"

"What if I can convince my mom to let your stay?" Justin eyed her quizzically. "_No, stop right there, stop talking!_"

"I would love to stay." Alex admitted. "Ugh, this is not going the way I wanted." She stomped her feet angrily. "Okay, that's enough. Justin, tell me your biggest secret."

Justin covered his mouth to stop himself from speaking, but finally blurted it out. "I still take a bath."

Alex stared at him in disbelief. "That's your big secret?" she blinked a few times and then smiled deviously. "I'm so using that for blackmail!" and then she blurted out again, "That is so hot by the way!" she gasped at what she said.

"Alex! What are you saying!" Justin yelled. "You are not supposed to stay stuff that'd embarrass us!"

"I know, I know!" Alex panicked again. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to find out your secrets."

"Secrets are secrets for a reason." Justin scolded. "They are secrets because no one should know them. Not even your annoying, sneaky, cunning, sis- best friend."

Alex looked up at him hopefully. "Wait a minute. You're talking like a nerd again. Do you think the spell wore off?"

"I hope so," Justin snapped, "after all, it was cast by an inexperienced, powerless wizard."

Alex sighed in relief. "Yupe, the spell's over. Now my secrets are safe. And by the way, I'm not the only one who was saying embarrassing stuff! You said things as well!" she accused.

"Maybe you should go to your room now." Justin suggested. "It's getting late…"

"What! No!" Alex protested. "Just because we said a bunch of embarrassing stuff doesn't mean you have to push me away. That is not fair!"

"I am not pushing you away." Justin assured. "I'm just saying I need some rest. I'm really tired for some reason. Hmm, I wonder why?" he paused for a second, putting his finger on his chin in a thinking pose, teasing Alex, "Oh I know! I was cleaning _someone'_s messy room!" Justin snapped.

"Oh, so that's how much stamina you have. Great!" Alex snapped back as she got up and headed for the door. "See you in the morning?"

"Yeah, if you wake up so soon." Justin teased again.

Alex shot him a glare and left the room.

* * *

_**Day 3**_

Justin woke up early in the morning and went to the living room. "Good morning everyone."

"Good morning" came three voices from three parts of the room.

Justin looked around for a moment and saw Alex wasn't there. "Wow. Daddy's little princess is still sleeping."

"What! No!" Theresa protested. "She's working extra shift at the sub-station to cover up for the salary we cut."

"But didn't you guys decide not to work while I was around?" Justin asked, suddenly feeling disappointed, "and I thought you had employees."

"We do." Theresa assured. "But Alex really wanted to work now. She said she has her reasons."

"What reasons?" Justin asked.

Theresa just shrugged and went back to preparing breakfast.

"I know the reasons." Max said, walking up to Justin and putting an arm around his shoulder. "She said money is more important than Justin."

Justin snorted. "Yeah, so she has to go down at the sub-shop at 6 a.m. when it isn't even open!" he snapped, suddenly feeling angry.

Max shrugged. "You know Alex; she doesn't really like to work."

Justin sighed and then smiled as he suddenly had an idea. He looked at Theresa, trying to hide his grin. "Umm… Ther-…mom, I think I'm gonna make Alex cook me breakfast. After all, she must be pretty bored not having to do something."

Theresa looked a bit suspicious but shrugged. "Okay, honey, if that's what you want."

Justin went downstairs and found Alex in the sub-shop, standing near an empty table (all tables were empty anyway) and talking to some guy. He saw her giggle at something the guy said and suddenly felt furious.

"Alex." He called as he walked towards them.

"Will you excuse us please?" he said to the guy as he grabbed Alex's arm and dragged her to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Alex yelled as she yanked her arm free from his grasp.

"What are _you _doing?" Justin yelled back.

Alex tilted her head to a side. "Uh, talking to a guy who also happens to be an employee?"

"Really?" Justin titled his head to the other side. "Because it looked to me like you were flirting with him."

Alex narrowed her eyebrows. "So?"

"So?" Justin shook his head in disbelief. "You're supposed to work, not crush around on random guys."

Alex glared at him. "What's wrong with crushing on a guy?"

Justin shook his head again. "He's an employee Alex, and you're the owner's daughter. Of course he'd flirt with you. Don't you see it! He's using you to get dad to increase his salary!"

Alex blinked a few times and stared at him for a moment. "Justin. Steve's not that kind of a guy. Besides, _anyone_ who knows dad for _about an hour_ would know that he'd _never _give a raise. You are not making any sense."

"I think I make perfect sense!" Justin yelled, and then started rubbing his temples with his hands in frustration.

Alex studied his face for a minute and then smirked. "Yupe. You're totally jealous."

"What! Pfft! Why would I be jealous!" he scoffed, and then smirked at Alex. "Are you trying to _make me_ jealous, Alex?"

"Pfft. Why would I try to- you know what. I don't need to explain myself to you. I'll go back to my work-slash-_flirting_ now, and you can go back _upstairs_ and get your breakfast." Alex yelled.

"Fine!" Justin yelled back, storming up the stairs.

Alex went up an hour later and was immediately stopped by Theresa's cooing. "Oh, Alex, come here! Justin told me everything! Oh! My hija has a crush on a guy! I _can't believe_ you're _finally _starting to date again. Tell your mommy all about him!"

Alex stopped dead in her tracks, trying to process what was going on. She looked at Justin and saw him smiling victoriously at her. She shot him a glare and turned to her mom again. "Umm, mom, look, I'm not really dating him. It was more of flirting."

"But you like him, don't you?" Theresa asked, feeling a bit surprised.

"Umm, yeah, I guess, but…" Alex looked around, looking for an excuse. "The _more important_ thing is, you still haven't invited Justin's parents to dinner. Now don't you think they'd be offended?"

Theresa stopped for a moment, considering her fact. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's invite them tonight. Let me make a call."

Alex looked at Justin and flashed him her victorious smile. "Sorry for ruining your plan." She whispered to him.

"What plan?" Justin asked innocently.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you you're not good at being sneaky?"

"Yeah. Most people do. They don't know the _real_ me."

Alex laughed. "Really? What's your plan?"

Justin smiled smugly. "Oh Alex, you still don't get it? All our lives we've been trying to get back at each other. Looks like I just won this round. Look what you did. You invited my parents to dinner tonight sweetie. Now you'd have to meet my mom again."

Alex froze for a moment. "Oh. Shoot." She stomped her feet angrily. Then she glared at Justin, "it's not over yet. I'd get back at you."

"Oh, I'd be waiting." Justin smiled again and patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Good luck for tonight."

It was 5.30 in the evening. Justin's parents were expected to arrive at 6. Everyone was ready and in the living room, except Alex.

"Where is she?" Theresa glanced upstairs nervously. "Justin, can you please go and tell her to hurry up."

Justin nodded as he went upstairs. He knocked at Alex's door and waited for her response.

"Come in."

"Umm, Alex, mom wants you to-" Justin froze mid-sentence as he looked at Alex and his jaw dropped open.

"Never seen a cute girl before?" Alex teased.

Justin gave her the deadliest glare he could manage in that situation. "Alex, I told you before. You can't wear that dress! Mom would get mad at you!"

"I know." Alex smiled sweetly. "_That's_ the plan. She'd get mad at _me_ and ask _you_ to stop talking to me. Then you'd be caught in a diremma-"

"Dilemma." Justin corrected at once.

"Whatever." Alex rolled her eyes. "Because you can never live without talking to me."

"I can totally do that." Justin protested.

"Denial is not another river in Egypt." Alex mocked his favorite expression., battling her eyelids playfully.

Justin scoffed. "Do you even know what that means?"

Alex smiled again. "You won't even last _an hour_ without talking to me."

"I would." Justin protested.

"Really? Let's test it. You are not going to talk to me while your parents are here. Let's see how long you last. Let's see who gives up first and begins a conversation."

"You're on." Justin smiled. "And what happens _when_ I win?"

"_If_ you win, I'd do _one thing_ you want me to do. And _when_ I win, you'd do one thing I want you to do." Alex said, grinning.

"Sounds good to me." Justin nodded. "Now change your dress and get downstairs fast."

"What! No!" Alex protested.

"Alex-" Justin warned.

"Fine." Alex gave in. "I'd go change."

When Justin didn't move, Alex gave him the 'what-are-you-waiting-for-dork' look. "Get out of here! Do you plan to stand here when I undress?"

"Ew, no!" Justin left the room instantly, feeling embarrassed. Alex smiled, feeling thoroughly satisfied with herself.


	12. Ch 11: The dinner

**Chapter 11: The dinner**

"Welcome Mrs. Jones." Theresa greeted the guests as she opened the door.

"Please, call us Daniel and Maria," Maria returned politely.

"Sure." Jerry smiled, leading them to the couch.

"Hey guys", Max greeted from his place at the kitchen island, "What's up?"

"We're doing great at Harper's house, catching up with things and all, you know." Maria replied sweetly.

"Oh I know, like Justin and Alex are doing." Max smiled.

Justin froze instantly, but Alex filled in for him. "Yeah, I already pulled one prank on him and managed to get 5 dollars. I'm still good."

Maria smiled at her words. "Sounds like you are having a lot of fun with your brother?"

Alex frowned at the 'brother' word, but managed to smile anyway. "Not really, he's pretty boring, especially when he talks about geek stuff. You should hear him lecture on Robotic Engineering. He'd totally put you to sleep. In fact, I think that'd be the perfect lullaby for his child."

"Yeah, that way, my child would be a genius from birth." Justin told his parents, but carefully aiming the words at Alex.

Daniel laughed. "It's good to see that you two can still fight in person, and not just on the phone and internet."

Justin froze at his words. How did he know?

"I know. I'm tired to talking to Justin on the net", Alex scoffed, "It took me a full year to make him understand ASAP means as soon as possible."

"Oh, so you're the one responsible for his horrible spellings?" Maria asked, surprised. "I should have known."

Alex smiled. "Don't worry; you don't need to thank me for that."

Sensing an argument approaching, Justin quickly changed the topic. "Did you guys hear about the homeless dolphin's project?"

Alex stared at him in disbelief, and then turned her gaze towards Maria. "I brought you a peach lip-gloss, your favorite."

Maria smiled as she handed the present to her. "Thanks honey, you really know how to bribe people."

Alex smiled. "I know, I'm an evil genius."

Daniel turned towards Justin, "Justin, did you give them their presents?"

Justin smacked his head with his hand. "I totally forgot that! I'll do it tomorrow dad, promise."

"Okay." Daniel replied.

"There's one more thing you forgot to do." Maria informed. "You forgot to call up Amanda."

"Who's Amanda?" Alex asked.

Justin gulped nervously. Maria glanced at him once and then looked at Alex. "She's a singer their band wants to recruit. She's our neighbor and Justin's friend as well. Didn't Justin tell you?"

"No." Alex replied, as her voice suddenly dropped and she felt a pang of disappointment. "He never mentioned about her."

Maria looked at Justin and smiled. "I'm thinking about marrying Justin to her."

Alex glared at her and became ready with her protest speech. "I don't think parents need to pick bride for their kids in the twenty-first century. Justin is mature enough to do that much for himself." (**List of things Justin hates about Alex: Alex Russo never thinks before speaking.)**

Maria eyed her suspiciously and nodded. "I know, that's why I'm not forcing my choice on him. It's his life and his decision, but I'm his mother, and I have every right to give him advice."

Sensing a brewing fight, Theresa cut in. "who's wants hot dinner?"

The dinner was unusually silent, with both Justin and Alex not talking to each other.

"Alex?" Maria asked finally, "Why aren't you talking to Justin? Are you mad at him because he was hiding about Amanda?"

Justin choked on his drink. Alex stared at her in disbelief and shook her head. "No. I'm not mad at him. I mean, I am mad at him because he's so annoying, dorky and boring, but not because of some girl. Pfft. If he didn't tell me about her, then I'm sure it's nothing important."

Justin felt tears forming in his eyes at how much Alex trusted him and understood him. He wanted to say thanks, but couldn't find the perfect words (and yeah, there was the bet.)

"Then why aren't you guys talking?" Max asked with his mouth full.

"It's a bet. We want to see who can stay the longer time without talking to the other." Justin stated.

"And I'm going to win." Alex added, grinning.

Daniel laughed. "You two are still kids. You know Alex, you are rude, selfish, cunning and devious, but I still like you a lot." He smiled genuinely at Alex and then turned towards Justin, "if you want to date her you have my green card."

Maria quickly snapped. "Not mine. I'd like a caring, loving, affectionate daughter-in-law."

Alex made a face at the words, and Justin panicked.

"What! What are you saying?" Theresa exclaimed. "They are brother and sister!"

Everybody turned their gaze towards her. "Well, they were. You get the point." She said with a huff.

"Relax guys," Alex replied as she silently stole some bacon from Justin's plate. "We're not dating. Who'd date _him_? We're just friends. Really good friends."

"Best friends." Justin corrected. Alex smiled.

"Well, you should probably call up Amanda now." Maria said when dinner and desert were over.

"Now? Here?" Justin asked in shock.

"Yes." Maria replied calmly, "I want to show Jerry and Theresa how perfect she is for you. Put the phone on speaker."

Justin nodded and followed her orders. Alex started pricking her ears, giving everyone the message that she wasn't interested, but clearly no body took the hint.

"Hello?" a sweet voice answered.

"Amanda?" Justin gulped.

"Oh hey Justin, what's up? You haven't called in for a while." She complained.

"Yeah well, I'm here in my adopted parents' house…" he replied, running a hand through his hair and shooting a apologetic glance towards jerry and Theresa for using the word 'adopted'.

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that!" Amanda suddenly sounded excited. "How's everything going with them? Wait, is everything all right with Alex? Have you talked to her yet?"

Justin cursed under his breath, praying silently that she'd shut up. "Umm, yeah, we talk a lot."

"So Mr. Perfectionist won't describe the details to me?" Amanda teased.

"Maybe later, when I get back?" Justin tried.

"Okay," Amanda agreed quickly. "Now let me speak."

"Umm, haven't you already been doing that?" Justin teased.

Amanda faked a laugh. "I don't consider exchanging words with a non-human species as speaking."

"Wow she's good." Alex mumbled under her breath. "I like her. Oh my gosh."

Justin glared at the phone. "Okay, would you mind telling me what's so important?"

"That's what I'm trying to do, duh." Amanda snapped. "You remember the book on Law Of Robotics that Zeke gave me?"

Alex snorted. Amanda was a geek like Justin. So much for liking her.

"Yeah, what about that?" Justin asked slowly.

"I may kind of have misplaced it…" Amanda let out slowly.

"WHAT?" Justin shrieked. "Zeke is going to freak out when he finds out!"

"Yeah, like you're freaking out now." Amanda yelled back. "I need your help."

"How am I supposed to help you?" Justin protested.

"He's your best friend!" Amanda yelled.

"He's your boyfriend!" Justin yelled back, and froze, realizing he had revealed her secret to his parents. Oops.

Maria frowned at the loss of the 'perfect bride' and glared at Justin for keeping the secret.

Alex smiled and got up from the couch and walked towards Justin. "Don't worry Amanda; I'd use my sneaky conniving mind to think of something." She said at the speaker of the phone.

"Who's this?" Amanda asked, surprised.

"Alex." Justin replied through clenched teeth.

Alex smiled deviously at him and battered her eyelids.

"Oh hi Alex!" Amanda greeted excitedly. "I'm so glad that I finally got to know out."

"Yeah, and you'd be even more glad to know that I already figured out a plan." Alex smiled cunningly again.

"Really? What?" Amanda asked, confused.

"Justin's going to buy you a new book." Alex declared her master plan.

"But Alex those are expensive-"Amanda protested.

Alex cut her off with a scoff. "So what? Justin has money. And I'm sure he'd love to use it for geek stuff." She said as she shot him a 'do-as-I-say' glare.

"Justin?" Amanda asked tentatively.

"Yeah, sure." Justin replied as he hung up. "I'll call you later."

Alex grinned again, and then turned towards Maria.

"I'm so sorry." She said apologetically, shooting a teasing smile in her direction.

Maria glared at her and looked at Justin. "We'll talk about this when you get back home."

Justin gulped and nodded.

When his parents were gone, Justin went into Alex's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" she yelled, not caring who it was.

"Only if the bet is over." He yelled back through the closed door.

Alex swung the door open and eyed him up and down a few times. "The bet can be put aside for a while if this is something important."

Justin nodded and smiled at her gratefully as he entered the room. "I think we need to talk about Amanda."

Alex snorted as she lay down on her bed lazily. "What about her?"

Justin looked at her tentatively, fidgeting with his hands nervously, and finally looked away. "Are you mad at me?"

Alex gave him the 'are-you-crazy' look. "_Why_ will I be mad at _you_?"

"Umm… because I hid something about my life from you?" Justin asked apprehensively.

Alex shook her head and sat up. "Do you like her?"

"What?" Justin jumped up in surprise.

Alex glared at him. "Do you like Amanda, dork?"

"No!" Justin shook his head violently to emphasize he wasn't lying.

Alex relaxed and lay back down again lazily.

"Look I'm really sorry that I-." Justin apologized.

"Wait." Alex held her hand up and stopped him. He watched her suspiciously as she grabbed her cell phone from the table and hit the record button. "Now speak."

Justin's eyes widened in surprise. "Have you been recording all my apologies?"

Alex smiled mischievously.

"Alex!" Justin yelled, raising his hands up in the air to emphasize.

Alex turned off the recorder, knowing it wouldn't be useful anymore. "As if you don't do that!" she accused.

"No I don't." Justin replied, shaking his head. "Actually, I can't. I'm not so apathetic. Besides, you never apologize."

Alex chuckled at his words. "Yupe. Some things never change, huh?"

Justin shook his head in disbelief and looked at her again. "So… are we cool then?"

Alex titled her head to her side and studied his features. "If I say no would you buy me that dragon I wanted from the WWWW?"

Justin stared at her like she was crazy. "No." he finally found the words. "Nothing like that."

Alex sighed and looked away. "Fine. I'm cool. And you're still totally not cool. But I'm not mad at you."

Justin smiled and sighed in relief. "Phew!"

Alex snickered. "Since when do you care about what I think?"

"What! I don't!" Justin protested immediately.

"Okay! Okay! I get it! Stop yelling!" she yelled.

"What! I'm not yelling! You're the one who's yelling!"

Alex groaned and clutched her pillow. "Justin I'm tired after talking to your mom for so long. Please let me sleep."

"About that, thanks for not putting salt in her tea." Justin grinned.

Alex's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know I was going to do that?"

"I know you very well sweetie." He replied, as he kissed her forehead. "Goodnight."

Alex shivered slightly at his touch but smiled. "Night. And Justin... the bet is over. Let's just call it a draw."


	13. Ch 12: The gifts

_(A/N:Fluff! *sighs* what's with me and fluff? XD_)

**Chapter 12: the gifts**

_**Day 4**_

The next morning, the Russo family (and Justin) were sitting in the Russo living room talking casually.

"Let me get your gifts." Justin announced, standing up. "Alex, can you give me a hand."

"Yeah, sure." Alex said, handing him her father's back- scratcher hand.

The whole family looked at her.

"What? He wanted a hand!" Alex scoffed. "Gosh, staring is rude."

Justin sighed and looked at Max. "Come on buddy!"

Max obeyed without a single word. (Hey, anything for presents!)

The two 'brothers' returned about 15 minutes later, max carrying two big boxes in his hand, and Justin a huge one.

"Oh my-"Theresa gasped. "What have you done honey!"

"It's nothing really, mom." Justin smiled.

Alex coughed into her hands. "Modesty*is*not*my*favorite *thing."

Justin glared at her and then returned his attention to the presents.

"This is for you Mom." He said as she handed her a wrapped gift.

Everyone watched curiously as Theresa unwrapped it to reveal a new lamp.

"Thank you so much honey! This is beautiful!" Theresa cried.

"Yeah, more things for me to break." Alex mumbled sarcastically.

"It's for you dad." Justin said, handing him a car key.

"Justin, you didn't have to-"jerry choked on his words and hugged his son tightly.

Alex scrunched up her nose at the emotional moment and cleared her throat.

Justin glared at her and turned to max. "Max, this is for you."

Max ripped the prize open and jumped up in joy. "Magician's gear? Awesome! Thanks bro!"

The only thing left was the largest box.

"Umm, I'm guessing that's for me?" Alex asked, battling her eye-lashes and smiled innocently.

Justin nodded and sighed. "I don't know why I do this. But I guess you are just too manipulative. I was wondering-"

Alex got up impatiently and walked towards the present. She unwrapped it in two seconds and gasped at the disassembled drum-parts.

"Justin…" she trailed off, tears forming in her eyes.

"What? Can't find the perfect insult?" Justin teased.

"I… I can't take it…." Alex shook her head. "It's too expensive."

Justin grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes. "You're worth it."

Alex finally broke down and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Justin smiled and turned off his recorder in his mobile.

"Justin!" Alex pulled back in surprise.

"What? You are the one who gave me the idea." He replied, grinning.

Alex couldn't help but smile back. "Stealing others ideas, huh?"

"Yupe."

"Why did you buy me a drum-set?" Alex asked when they were finally alone in his room.

"You sold your drum-set ten years back." Justin replied casually.

Alex shook her head. "Why a drum-set?"

Justin put on a thinking face. "Hmm, I thought about buying you diamonds, pearls, rubies, sapphires and everything else you deserve. But then, you don't like those. You find then corny and lame. So I thought and thought and thought, and finally it clicked in my head."

Alex yawned dramatically to let him know she was getting bored by his dork-speech.

"You like drums. I bought you one." Justin said matter-of-factly. "In fact, I was thinking you could join our band."

Alex thought about it for a moment, and grinned. "Are there any cute guys in your band?"

"There's one sitting in front of you now." Justin whispered as he winked at her.

Alex tilted her head and looked at him mischievously. "So you want me to hit on him?"

"Maybe." Justin grinned, thoroughly enjoying this. "What do you think?"

Alex remained silent for a few minutes, unable to think of a perfect reply. "Justin, stop, it feels so weird to flirt with you." She whined.

"I'm sorry…" Justin apologized, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"Yeah. Whatever." Alex rolled her eyes. "You know I didn't get any present for you right?"

Justin snorted. "Yeah, like you haven't for the last 26 years of your life."

Alex smiled apologetically. "If I knew, you'd get me something so huge, I definitely would have."

Justin looked hurt. "Our relation is not give and take, Alex."

"Oops." Alex apologized. "I know, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way…"

Justin nodded, believing her. "I know what you meant. Don't worry."

Alex smiled again and suddenly wrested him into his bed.

"Alex, what are you doing?" Justin hissed, panicking.

"Umm, proving I'm still stronger than you? Duh." Alex smirked.

"Really? Lets see." Justin said as he turned around so that she was now below him. "Who's stronger now, Alex?"

Alex tried to free herself from his grasp but failed. She tried to push at his chest but he pinned her hands down to her sides above her head.

"Am I too strong for you?" Justin grinned.

"No." Alex gulped, finally sensing how close their faces were again. But it was Justin, and she trusted him.

"Come on Alex, say I'm stronger than you, and I'll let you go." Justin said, looking into her eyes.

Alex tilted her head to the side. "I don't lie."

"Really?" Justin smirked. "Oh and the sun rises in the west."

Alex snorted. "Watch it. I own sarcasm and didn't give you permission to use it." She froze when she remembered it was the same thing she had said to Dean… hey boyfriend…

"Oh I'm sorry." Justin battered his eyelids playfully. "Come on Alex, admit it."

Alex shook her head, showing she wasn't backing out.

"Don't make me do this." Justin warned.

"Do what?" Alex challenged.

Justin leant in and kissed her forehead.

Alex bit her lip to stifle a moan. Suddenly he was turning her on.

"Justin", she tried to make her voice sound normal, but failed, "Get off me."

Justin shook his head. "Not until you admit I'm stronger."

Alex sighed and looked away from him, silently praying to God that she wasn't blushing. "This feels weird." She said, referring to their current intimate state.

"Huh?" Justin asked, not understanding what she meant.

Alex stared at him in disbelief. "You're pinning down a girl to your bed, dork."

"Oh." Justin said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and getting up, "I'm sorry I was just trying to…"

Alex surprised him and herself as well when she wrapped her arms around his shoulder and pulled him back into her. "Stay." She ordered.

"What?" Justin asked, looking into her eyes nervously.

Alex rolled her eyes. "I said stay. And get a hearing aid, old man."

Justin frowned and relaxed a bit, but still felt comprehensive.

"I feel safe, just like old times." Alex blurted out suddenly.

Justin looked at her and smiled. "Me too. I wish we could stay like this all the time."

Alex sighed. "We're not kids anymore."

Justin nodded agreeing. "You've grown up so much." He said, running his hands through her arms to her wrists and back up.

Alex bit down her lip again. This can't be good. "I know that, duh."

Justin smiled. "It feels like yesterday that you were born."

Alex whined. "Justin, no, not the memory lane!"

Justin chuckled slightly and looked into her again. "Your attitude hasn't changed a bit, you know that? You still act like a 12 year old."

Alex glared at him. "And you've been acting like a 40 year old adult since the day you were BORN."

Justin smiled again. "How do you come up with new insults?"

"How do you come up with new ways to look like a dork?" Alex retorted.

Justin chuckled. "You know Alex; you're in no position to tease me now. Look at yourself."

Alex looked into his eyes and didn't like the expression there. "Justin? Are you all right?"

Justin gazed deeply into eyes for a long time. "Justin this is boring." Alex complained.

"Shhh…" he shushed her, placing a finger on her lips. Alex shuddered at the touch.

Justin smiled. "Do you like me?"

"What?" Alex asked, suddenly caught off guard.

"I asked do you like me? And get a hearing aid, old lady." Justin mocked.

"Justin, let me go, please." Alex pleaded, feeling uncomfortable again. This closeness to Justin was doing things to her that she didn't like, and honestly, he was stronger than her. He felt too heavy on top of her.

Justin shook his head. "That's not my answer."

"Justin you're hurting me." Alex tried again.

"You're not getting out of my room until you answer me." Justin declared bluntly.

"Fine, then I'll stay here tonight." She said, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"What are you-"

With the extra support of her legs, Alex finally managed to turn Justin over and free herself.

She sat up slightly, grabbed her wand and muttered, "Edbano Utosis."

Soon, Alex's clone was standing in front of her. "Go to my room and fall asleep." She ordered her clone.

Justin raised an eyebrow. "What was that for?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Mom and dad wont like it when they find out I stayed here tonight."

Justin gulped, suddenly realizing that was a bad idea. "Maybe you should-"

Before he could complete, Alex threw herself back at him. And wrapped her arms around him. "Please don't leave me again." She sobbed.

Justin was taken aback by her sudden change of mood. "Alex?"

"I can't take another good-bye." She declared in a cracking voice. "Please."

Justin sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "You know I have to go back. I live there now. My band works there. I just can't leave everything and come back to you. Besides, it wouldn't look right. You live alone. If I stay with you, people would think I'm your boyfriend. It'll ruin your reputation. I don't want people talking rubbish about you. I have to go back Alex. But right now, I'm right here with you."

Alex nodded, relaxing a bit, not because of the reasons he stated that she didn't listen to, but because she was in his arms, and for some unknown freaky reason, nothing else mattered.


	14. Ch 13: Weird and awkward

**Chapter 13: Weird and awkward**

_**Day 5**_

Alex woke up the next morning in the familiarity of her '_brother_'s room. She rolled over and saw that he was already awake.

"Good morning." Justin smiled at her.

"Your pumpkin face is the first thing I see when I wake up. How can the morning be good?" she teased in a sleepy voice.

Justin frowned slightly. "Do you have to be snarky from early in the morning?"

"Yupe." Alex replied, grinning and rubbing her eyes.

Justin sighed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Get downstairs before you get caught."

"Hey mom. Hey dad." Alex greeted walking downstairs. "I'm heading for the sub-shop."

Justin frowned again. "Do you need to?"

"Yupe. I'm helping Steve open today." Alex replied, running down the stairs, shooting a mischievous smile in his direction.

Justin sighed. "I think I'd keep an eye on her. I don't really like that Steve guy." He said to his father as he followed Alex down the stairs.

He noticed Alex standing alone at the sub-shop, looking at him and grinning.

"What?" Justin scoffed in annoyance.

"I just totally proved you're jealous." Alex said, grinning, and crossing an arm in front of her chest.

"I am not!" Justin protested. "I'm just looking out for you."

Alex smiled deviously. "You've been using that excuse for years."

Justin gave her a stern look. "Alex, stop teasing me like that. Have you ever thought about what would happen if I actually start crushing on you?"

Alex scoffed. "Please, you're Justin; you can never fall for me. Besides, this is a lot of fun."

Justin sighed, clearing getting the hint that there would be more teasing. He turned and headed to the kitchen. "Let me help you with the accounts."

"Alex, where's your brother?" Theresa asked in the evening.

Alex shrugged. "How will I know where the heck max is?"

Theresa shook her head. "No. I'm talking about Justin."

Alex snorted. "He's in his room, reading some geek book I think."

"What?" Theresa almost yelled. "He can read books later, he needs to stay with us now! Get and get him!"

"Fine!" Alex yelled, getting up from the kitchen stool and walking up the stairs.

"Justin what the heck are you-"Alex swung the door to Justin's room open and froze at the sight in front of her. Justin was sitting on his bed, shirtless.

Alex gulped and tried to act normal. "Umm, mom wants you downstairs."

"Why?" Justin asked not looking up from his book.

Alex rolled her eyes. "To have a chat with you, duh."

Justin sighed and kept the book aside. "This book is so amazing."

Alex looked at the cover and smiled. "See, this is why I told you to buy me the book."

Justin nodded and looked at her. "Can I borrow it for a while?"

Alex shrugged. "Sure, I've already finished reading it."

Justin smiled. "Thanks cutie."

Alex scrunched her nose up in disguise. "Ew, stop calling me those names and get downstairs now."

Justin nodded and got up, heading for the door.

Alex gave him the 'are-you-crazy' look. "Put a shirt on!"

"Oh, yeah, right!" Justin blushed slightly, feeling uncomfortable again. "Should I wear the blue one or the white one?"

Alex snorted. "Anything you like, because everything makes you look equally dorky."

Justin had a sly grin in his face as he held up the shirt from the previous night. "What about this. You found it cute, didn't you?"

"What? I… Pfft.." Alex stuttered, unable to find words. "Oh get down already!" she yelled in frustration, walking away.

Justin smiled to himself. This teasing wasn't so bad…..

"So, honey, tell us more about your parents. Is everything all right?" Theresa asked, patting him lightly on the shoulder.

"Yupe. Everything's going great. They are really nice people." Justin replied.

"Then why didn't you come back home anymore?" Jerry asked.

"Umm… I was kind of scared?" Justin offered.

"Of what?" jerry asked, and okay, this isn't going anywhere.

"Justin's mother doesn't want him near me. She thinks Justin likes me." Alex filled in, receiving an instant glare from Justin.

"What? Why?" Theresa asked in horror.

"Well, because we talk every hour and text all the time, and yeah, chat at web-cam at night?" Alex said non-chalantly, earning another glare from Justin.

Theresa looked at Justin with concern. "Umm, honey, do you want us to talk to them?"

Justin shook his head. "No mom, it'll just make things worse."

Alex sighed and got up. "Are you done with your family chat yet?"

"No, why?" jerry questioned, looking at her skeptically.

"I'm hungry. I want lunch." Alex announced, walking to the kitchen.

"Okay." Max followed, "Me too."

Theresa sighed and got up. "Maybe we should talk about this later."

Justin was sitting on his bed, reading a book, while Alex was looking at him, getting bored.

"So you spend your afternoons reading books?" Alex asked him in disbelief, snatching the book away from his hands and tossing it to the side of the bed.

"No. I spend my afternoons talking to you on the phone. And later lying to my mom about why my phone was engaged." Justin snapped.

"And failing horribly at that." Alex snapped back. "Maybe we should do something more fun."

"Reading is fun!" Justin protested.

"Not for me! Justin, come on!"

"Fine." Justin gave in. "What do you want to do?"

"Let me see your cell phone." Alex ordered.

"What? No! Why do you-"

Justin was cut off when Alex snatched the cell phone from his pocket, ignoring his protests.

"Let's see what you've got here." Alex grinned darkly.

"Alex. This is personal." Justin warned.

Alex quickly entered the inbox and her eyes widened in surprise. "You store my texts?"

"I'm a busy person. I don't have time to delete them." Justin lied.

Alex smiled and started moving through the texts, reading the texts. "Ew. Gross. Who sends you these texts?"

"Umm, Zeke. That's what the name says, duh." Justin replied nervously.

Alex's eyes widened in surprise again. "I never knew Zeke could be so dirty."

"You don't know many things." Justin mumbled.

Alex narrowed her eyebrows and gave him the 'tell-me-the-truth' look. "Do you forward these texts?"

"What? No!" Justin protested instantly.

"Really? Cause I think you do." Alex smiled, holding up the screen in front of him.

Justin stared at the screen in disbelief. "You forwarded it to your number?" he shrieked in horror.

Alex smiled evilly again. "Yupe. Now I can show this to your mother and get you into a lot of trouble."

"Alex, no, don't-"

"If only you could do something to make me happy." Alex added, grinning.

Justin sighed. "What do you want?"

Alex grinned ear to ear. "That dragon from WWWW?"

Justin nodded. "Fine. Now give me back my phone."

Alex smiled wickedly again. "I'm not done yet."

"What? What else do you want to-"

Justin froze when Alex entered his gallery. "Alex, no, not that-"

Alex quickly pressed some buttons and a photo opened in front of her.

"Who's that girl?" she asked, and then leant in closer to the screen. "Wait a minute! Isn't that my picture from the vacation?"

Justin ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Yeah, I kind of stored it?"

Alex grinned again and gave his cell phone back to him. "_Now_ I know why your mom thinks you like me. Erase those things dork."

"No." Justin shook his head. "These are my things. No one tells me what to do with them. Not even my mom."

"Wow. Justin grew a backbone, yay." Alex teased.

"_Technically_, it's called vertebral column." Justin retorted.

Alex stuck out her tongue to him. "I think I'm going to get some beauty sleep then. See you later."

Justin grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Stay with me."

The evening passed casually, with the whole family chatting and having fun. They went to bed early that night.

Alex couldn't fall asleep, and finally she figured out why: five days had already passed. Justin was leaving in 5 more days. And that was already starting to disappoint her.

Justin couldn't fall asleep either, and he figured out why: he had five more days left here with Alex. And he was feeling insane at the thought of leaving her again. Finally he understood- he was falling for her.

* * *

_**Day 6**_

Justin woke up that morning after having dreams about Alex. He was fully convinced now: he was in love with Alex. He had been, for a long, long time. But now, this close proximity with her, and this whole teasing made it worse. He couldn't deny it anymore.

He got up, smiling to himself like the hopeless people in love, and walked out of his room.

"Hey." He greeted as he saw Alex stepping out of her room.

"Hey." Alex greeted, yawning and waving at him. "Bad morning."

Justin smiled slightly. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah like a baby." Alex snapped. "You?"

"I slept very, very peacefully after such a long time." Justin replied with a smile, recalling the dream again.

Alex snorted. "Yay!" she said in a teasing tone.

"So…. What do you want to do today?" Justin asked.

Alex shrugged. "I don't know. Mom will probably think of something."

"No." Justin shook his head. "I mean you and me."

Alex tilted her head and eyed him up and down three times.

"What?" Justin scoffed, feeling irritated.

"Are you up to something?" Alex narrowed her eyebrows in a threatening gesture.

"No. I just wanted to spend such more time with you before I go back."

Justin's voice dropped at the thought of going back, and Alex felt disappointed as well.

"Well, okay then, come to my room at night when everyone falls asleep." Alex ordered walking away.

"Why do you-"Justin sighed, heading for the bathroom.

The day passed quickly. The family had a lot of fun. But Justin was nervous throughout the day. Finally night arrived. He tiptoed into Alex's room and knocked at the door.

"It's open." She yelled.

Justin entered the room noiselessly and glared at her.

"What?" Alex scoffed.

"Don't yell. Mom and dad will wake up." Justin hissed.

"Whatever. Can't you see I'm a bit busy here?" Alex snapped, returning to the dressing table. She began to try to disentangle her necklace from her hair again, but failed.

"Justin. Help me." she finally blurted out, being frustrated with trying for so long.

"Okay." Justin replied as he walked up to her.

"What? No insults about what a useless wizard I am?" Alex frowned.

Justin just smiled. "Not when you look so pretty."

Alex titled her head and eyed him up and down three times again. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yupe." Justin replied, reaching for the necklace, "In fact, I've never felt better."

"What is-"

Alex stopped when she felt Justin's hands on her shoulder and her hair. She shivered at the cold touch when his hand touched her skin.

"Sorry." Justin mumbled.

Alex nodded, looking at the mirror in front of her. It looked so perfect; she looked so complete with Justin behind her. Alex shook her head and dismissed the horrible train of thoughts.

Justin finally managed to get the necklace out.

"Thanks." Alex mumbled.

"You're welcome honey." Justin replied sweetly.

Alex titled her head again and eyed him up and down five times. "Look Justin, if you want to torture me by being sweet with me, please stop it, I can't take this anymore." She whined.

"What! No." Justin shook his head. "I'm not trying to torture you, I can never torture you, I'm just being nice to you."

Alex snorted. "Oh and the sun rises in the west." She mocked.

Justin chuckled and sat down on her bed. "So?"

"So?" Alex asked back as she sat beside him.

"I'd be leaving in 4 more days…." He began.

"I know." Alex sighed.

"It feels so good to be here with you guys…." He continued.

"I know." Alex sighed again.

Justin put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. "Maybe you should come visit me sometimes?"

"Yeah, and you're mother will be standing in the door to welcome me." Alex retorted sarcastically.

"I'm sure we can figure something out." Justin assured. "Don't you want to stay with me?"

"Yeah sure." Alex smiled sweetly. "I'd be so much fun to destroy all of your stuff."

"I leave in 4 days." He repeated again.

"I know that." Alex snapped. "And you already said it."

Justin sighed. "You know, if there's something important you want to tell me, this should be the time to do it."

Alex tilted her head to look at him. "No. I have nothing like that to say. Do you?"

"What… I…no… yes… I mean" Justin stuttered and finally sighed. "Goodnight Alex. See you tomorrow."

"What but you-"Alex felt confused as she saw Justin leave her room hastily. What was wrong with him that day?


	15. Ch 14: Kiss and slap

_**Chapter 14: kiss and slap**_

_**Day 7**_

The day passed in the usual manner, with Justin being nice to Alex, and finally evening arrived.

"Justin you're starting to freak me out now." Alex whined.

"What?" Justin asked in confusion.

"You've been acting all weird and nice to me." Alex pointed out. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Justin smiled. "Everything's all right. In fact, nothing's been better before."

Alex quirked up an eyebrow in confusion. "Why do you-"

She stopped when Justin's phone rang.

"It's my mom calling." Justin said apologetically, glancing at the screen, "excuse me."

Alex snorted, as Justin walked into a corner of the room.

"What? Tomorrow? Really?" his voice dropped. "fine." He sighed.

"Bad news." He said, returning back to the family.

"What's wrong?" Theresa asked in a concerned tone.

"Mom just called me up. My tour schedule has been changed. I need to depart tomorrow." He announced sadly.

"What!" Alex yelled. "How can the schedule for a world tour suddenly change? Do you want me to buy that crap? I know what's going on here. Maria wants you to go and stay away from me."

"Alex, calm down." Jerry warned.

"Uggh, I hate her!" Alex yelled again and headed for her room.

"I'll go see her." Justin said.

"Don't you need to pack your stuff?" Theresa asked.

"Later." Justin replied as he walked towards Alex's room.

"Alex." Justin knocked into her room.

"Go away!" Alex yelled.

"I'm sorry." Justin whispered, walking inside her room and sitting down beside her.

"You were supposed to leave three days later." Alex sobbed.

"I'm sorry." Justin apologized again.

"Please don't leave me again." Alex pleaded.

"I'm sorry." Justin apologized again.

"Stop saying that!" Alex yelled.

Justin wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

"Why is this happening again?" Alex groaned and began to cry.

"I wish I knew." Justin whispered back as he tightened his hold on her. It was now or never. Enough fooling around, he thought.

He gently turned her around to face him. He looked into her teary eyes for a moment and finally decided to take a chance. He gently leant in and touched his lips with hers.

Justin panicked for a moment when Alex didn't kiss him back. But he decided to give it a further push; there was no backing out now.

He placed his hand on her hair, pulling her closer into him, and licked her lips with his tongue.

Alex was frozen at the sudden happenings, finally she regained her senses. She quickly broke free, slapping him tightly on the cheek, shoving him in the chest and pushing him away.

"What are you doing?" she shrieked.

"I…I'm sorry, Alex, I-"

"Get out of here!" she screamed again.

"Alex-"

"Get out of my room freak!" Alex yelled furiously.

Justin's heart broke at that moment. Alex had turned him down- she didn't feel the same away about him. Heck, he'd be lucky if she ever talked to him again.

He looked down at the ground in shame and silently headed for the door.

The door slammed behind him and his world crashed.

Justin entered his room and saw his stuff scattered everywhere. He sighed and sank down on his bed, letting the tears flow. It was over, everything was over. Maybe he had rushed things. Maybe she needed more time. Maybe he shouldn't have taken the chance…. Maybe she was gone forever.

Alex sank back into her bed as the tears began to flow. Justin had just kissed her. And for some freaky reason, it had felt good.

She had just pushed him away. And for some weird reason, that made her feel bad.

She groaned in frustration. Justin probably wouldn't talk to her anymore. She had lost him forever….

Justin couldn't sleep at night. He packed his stuff randomly, not caring to fold them properly, because nothing mattered to him anymore.

When he headed downstairs in the morning, everything was silent, and for a moment he thought everyone was still asleep.

"We'll miss you." Theresa whispered suddenly, and then he saw his family standing at a corner of the room.

"I'll miss you too." Justin replied, trying to smile.

And then he noticed someone was missing, not that he had expected her to show up, but he sure hoped. "Umm… Where's Alex?" he asked, deciding to take a chance.

"She's in her room." Theresa replied. "She said she couldn't take another goodbye."

Justin only nodded, silently thanking Alex for not telling anyone about the kiss.

He exchanged his final goodbyes and headed for the airport, where he'd be joined by his real parents.

His world was over. All was lost.

Justin sighed, feeling the depression and the emptiness in his heart. There was no guilt though: she wasn't his sister, it wasn't wrong.


	16. Ch 15: Slap slap kiss

**Chapter 15: Slap Slap Kiss **

**Three months later**

Justin was back at home after an awesome world tour. He entered his room, turned off the lights and lay in his bed. He closed his eyes and took in the darkness. This darkness and emptiness represented exactly what he felt inside after Alex turned him down. They did not exchange any words in the three months that passed. Justin realized that he had lost the one person that he truly loved- maybe forever. He shivered at the thought and a tear silently fell down from his eyes. Many tears followed. Justin wept silently in his room, until-

Knock. Knock.

Justin quickly jumped off his bed and turned on the lights. He wiped the tears off his eyes with a tissue and headed for the door. He swung it open and-

"Alex?"

"Hey." Alex smiled weakly.

"How did you even get in here with all the security outside?"

Alex smiled mischievously as she put her wand back in her boot.

"Oh. Magical travel." Justin muttered. In other times, he would have given Alex a good lecture on how magical trouble could be dangerous. But with all the tension between them, he figured it wasn't a good time. "So, what brings you here?" Justin asked hesitantly.

"Nothing, I just- you-" Alex bit her lip before looking at his eyes- "Why didn't you talk to me for 3 months?"

Justin sighed. "I thought you wouldn't want to talk to me."

"Why would you think that?" Alex rolled her eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe because you pushed me away when I tried to kiss you." Justin went pale at the recollection of that painful memory.

"Sorry if I was a little freaked out when you kissed me ALL OF A SUDDEN!" Alex yelled.

"What! You're the one who's been suggesting that I like you THE WHOLE TIME!" Justin yelled back.

"I was teasing you. I tease you all the time." Alex yelled again.

"Oh." Justin sounded more disappointed.

"What do you mean oh?" Alex scoffed nervously.

"I mean what exactly made you think that you can toy with my feelings?" Justin wanted to yell, but his voice broke.

"I wasn't toying with your feelings! I just-" Alex took a deep breath. "I wasn't prepared for the moment. I wasn't sure what to do. I never thought that you actually like me, okay?"

"Yeah, and when you find out, you have to slap me hard and push me away? Is that how you treat your best friend?" Justin asked, his voice rising again.

"How can you kiss a girl without even giving her hints that you like her?" Alex said, crossing her arms in front of her, and tapping her foot on the floor in annoyance, an action that angered Justin even further.

"What do you mean by I didn't give you hints? I was being nice to you the whole day!" Justin yelled, finally losing his temper.

"Being nice to someone doesn't mean that you like her." Alex yelled back. "Do you know anything about girls?"

"I know I would probably _never_ want to date _any_ girl again." Justin screamed, punching the wall beside him furiously.

"What do you mean by _probably_? How can you even _think_ about dating someone else later?" Alex yelled, stomping her feet childishly.

"So you want me to cry over you for the rest of my life?" Justin shouted. "I can get any girl I like."

"How dare you think about that! You _have to_ love me your entire life!" Alex yelled, and quickly reached out to slap him hard.

"Why? So that you can make me more miserable?" Justin glared at her, grasping her arms harshly and painfully.

"No, so that you can keep on hurting me like this." Alex snapped, wincing in pain, trying to get out of Justin's grasp. "I hate you!" Alex yelled, slapping him again.

"I hate you too!" Justin yelled, slapping her cheek lightly, not enough to hurt.

They stared at each other for a long time, breathing heavily with anger growing inside them.

"Ugh." Alex growled in frustration before grabbing his hair and pulling him into a kiss. Justin panicked for a few seconds before he realized what was going on. And then finally he relaxed and kissed her back wildly.

When they pulled apart, Justin still had a goofy grin plastered in his face.

"Dork." Alex teased. "MY dork." She said with a tone of possessiveness. "Don't even think about getting over me." She warned in a threatening voice.

Justin smiled as tears started to form in his eyes. He quickly pulled Alex into a deep hug. "I thought I lost you." Justin whispered in her ears.

"Justin, you'll never ever lose me, I promise." Alex whispered back before leaning in to give him another kiss. After a few seconds they pulled apart, "I'll take the bed, you take the couch. Oh, and I need to borrow some of your night clothes. Good ones. Nothing white." Alex ordered before walking away.

But she returned again with a mischievous grin and whispered in Justin's ear- "and just so you know, you don't speak Spanish in your dreams. I totally made that up to see how you react."

**During dinner that night.**

"Alex, can I ask you just 1 question?"

"Yeah?" Alex asked impatiently, licking her cupcake.

"If you used magic travel, why didn't you just enter my room?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Is that so hard to figure out? I couldn't do the spell perfectly. Simple." And then she had a mischievous grin in her face again. "Besides, I didn't want to walk in on you when you're shirtless."

Justin blushed at that memory at the Russo house when-

"Alex, do your mom and dad know you are here?"

Alex shrugged.

"But they may be worried about you!" Justin cried.

"Fine. Just call them up and tell them I'm here." Alex said non- chalantly.

"I can't do that! If my mom and dad find out you're here, they are going to kill me!"

"Oh, so we'll have to date secretly?" Alex glared at him.

"Yeah, until you get in my parents good book."

"See. This is why you never had a girlfriend."

"Actually, I didn't have a girlfriend because I had always been in love with you."

Alex smiled. "Aw, that is sweet." And then she panicked. "Oh my goodness I'm becoming mushy."

Justin chuckled. "This is where you say that you love me back."

Alex groaned. "Do I have to?"

Justin nodded and Alex blushed. "I…. I love you dweeb."

Justin sighed but smiled. "That'll do. I can live with that."

"Yeah, you kind of have to." Alex smiled back. "So when do I start impressing your parents?"

"Umm, maybe we can meet them tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow! What! But I wanted to see the city!"

"Alex-"Justin warned.

"Fine." Alex muttered. "But you're taking me out for dinner. No excuses."

"Yes, maam." Justin chuckled. "Umm, Alex?"

"Yeah? What is it this time?" Alex asked in an irritated tone.

"Why did you feel freaked out when I kissed you?" Justin asked skeptically.

Alex whined and sighed. "I knew you were my brother till I was 16. It took a while to set in."

Justin went smug again. "Oh, I get it. It's the westermarck effect."

"West what?" Alex quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Westermarck effect. It's a theory." Justin explained enthusiastically. "In layman's terms, it says that when a girl and a guy are brought up like brothers and sisters, they find it difficult to get involved romantically." (A/N: try wikipedia for the accurate explanation. I just gave the basic idea, might not be absolutely accurate.)

"Oh. So you explain love by science. Great." Alex replied in her usual sarcastic tone. "Still can't believe I fell for you."

Justin chuckled again. "Love you too."


	17. Ch 16: win them over

**Chapter 16: win them over  
**

The next morning, Justin and Alex left to visit Justin's parents.

"Oh hello Alex, what a surprise." Maria mumbled as she opened the door.

"Yeah, it's great to see you too." Alex offered a small and fake smile.

"Well come on in." Daniel greeted.

"So, what brings you here this early in the morning?" Maria asked, once they were all seated in the room.

"Umm, I have something to tell you." Justin announced.

"Okay, go on." Maria urged.

"I…I'm dating Alex." Justin blurted out suddenly.

Alex's eyes widened in surprise. Weren't they supposed to tell her _after_ she impressed her?

"WHAT?" Maria shrieked.

"I'm dating Alex." Justin repeated, more calmly, with more determination in his voice.

"Really? Wow, that's great news! And I thought you'd ask me before you take your decisions. I thought you'd listen to me. But no!" Maria suddenly began to cry, feeling defeated.

"Mom-"Justin tried, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

Alex felt bad at the situation, even though she mostly despised Maria. "I'm sorry; it's more of my fault."

"Of course it is!" Maria yelled.

Alex felt tears forming in her eyes as well. She got up and looked straight at Maria. "If you want me to stay away from him, just tell me, it's fine."

"Stay away?" Maria asked. "No. You can stay with him, you would anyways, but you have to stay away from me. I don't like you. And you too Justin, don't visit us anymore." Maria replied harshly.

"What about you dad?" Justin asked softly.

"I like Alex. I respect your decision." Daniel replied, "But I have to stick by your mom's decision."

Justin sighed and got up, taking Alex's hands in his. "All right then, in that case, I have to stick by my decision as well. Come on Alex."

"No wait." Alex protested, pulling her hands away, looking into his eyes deeply and meaningfully. "You just found your parents ten years back, I know what they mean to you, I don't want you to throw everything away because of me." She turned around and looked at Maria. "Look, I know the things I said to you that day were horrible, I shouldn't have said that, I understand, and I'm really sorry about it. But you have to understand this, I was totally shocked at the time, I didn't know what I was thinking. All I knew was that you were taking Justin away, so that's what came out of my mouth. I can't change the past, I mean I can with some magic, but I'll probably mess the spell up pfft…. Oh, right serious, okay, so, for the sake of everyone's happiness, I'm ready to behave myself in the future."

All three of them stared at Alex.

"What?" Alex scoffed.

"Did you just apologize Alex?" Justin asked in disbelief.

Alex simply rolled her eyes.

"Do you mean what you said?" Maria asked, her features slowly softening.

Alex nodded. "I always say things that I mean."

"Fine." Maria sighed. "Let me think about it."

Justin and Alex returned to Justin's apartment.

Justin untied his shoes, threw them away, and lay down at the couch.

"Do you think she'll change her decision?" Alex asked apprehensively.

"I don't know." Justin shook his head and rubbed his temples. "But I'm sticking by my decision, that's for sure."

"I'm sorry." Alex apologized, and her voice cracked a bit.

Justin looked up at her in surprise. "Are you crying?"

"Nope. Those are my allergies." Alex said as she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Hey that was my dialog! " Justin said playfully, pulling her into a hug. "Everything will be fine."

"I know." Alex said, as she relaxed. And suddenly, she had an idea. She pulled away from Justin and sat up. "That's it Justin, I got it!"

"What?" Justin asked in surprise as she ran into his room.

Maria opened the door to find a girl dressed in submarine themed robe standing in front of her. "Umm, Harper?" she asked, eying her up and down, "come on in."

"Thanks Aunt Maria! How are you doing! I thought I'd pay you a visit." Harper chirped as she entered the living room.

"Cut to the chase." Maria snapped. "Alex sent you here, didn't she?"

"What? No. Why would she send me here?" Harper laughed nervously.

Maria glared at her threateningly, folding her arms in front of her in a defensive manner.

"Okay, fine, Alex sent me." Harper blurted out in a scared tone.

"I told them before, and I'll tell you too, I'm not changing my decision." Maria declared coldly.

Harper sighed and got up. "You know Maria, by doing this, you're not just punishing Alex- you're pushing your own son away. Besides, Alex isn't so bad, I mean, I know she can be selfish, rude and cunning at times, and would it kill her to clean her room once in a while? But she's got a heart of gold. I don't get it- why don't you like her?"

"Because of her mannerism Harper." Maria stated. "The way she acts all the time, she's too immature. She's not perfect for Justin. They are complete opposites."

"Opposites attract." Harper said, interrupting her ranting. "Kind of like scissors and needles, get it? Scissors cut the clothes, needles sew them together. But you keep them in the same box." Harper laughed at her own joke.

Maria shook her head in disbelief but continued. "I raised Justin strictly. He's my only son. I have a lot of dreams centering him. I thought he'd marry a nice and sweet girl."

"Alex is nice." Harper defended. "She's my best friend, I know her well. You may not see her saying nice things or helping people, but she silently does those things. I have seen her do those."

"It's not just that." Maria sighed in frustration. "I told you before Harper, she's too immature. I don't think she understands love. I fear she'll leave Justin for someone else."

Harper stared at her aunt in disbelief, unable to find the perfects words to tell her how horribly wrong she was. "No, she won't. She's not that kind of girl. She's known Justin her entire life. She really likes him."

"Things change after marriage, Harper." Maria pointed out.

Harper shook her head. "Some things never change. Look, it's your decision, but I think you should think about it again, for the sake of Justin."

Maria nodded, as Harper got up to leave the apartment.

"Yo, how much?" Alex asked, motioning at some apples.

"Ten dollars." The fruit seller replied.

"I got five." Alex replied, holding up five dollars in front of him.

The fruit seller shook his head firmly. "Ten dollars."

Maria watched the scene from behind a tree, carefully remaining hidden and keeping her distance. She never thought she'd be spying on Alex, but it was important to know if she was indeed nice.

Alex sighed and turned around.

"Hey, I can give you five dollars." A handsome guy said, stopping her.

"No, thanks." Alex said, smiling politely.

"It's no big deal really." The guy said, smiling back.

"I know. But I was told not to take money or things from strangers." Alex said, glancing at her wrist watch to see if she was getting late.

The stranger chuckled. "Your mom told you that when you were five, right?"

"No." Alex said, shaking her head, smiling slightly. "I don't really listen to my mom. That was the order of-"

The guy cut him off. "-So why can't you let me help you? And maybe we can grab a coffee after that or something?"

Alex sighed, finally understanding what this was about. "Umm, sorry, but I already have a boyfriend." She apologized, smiling slightly.

"Really? Then why did he send you shopping with just five dollars?" the guy challenged.

Maria wanted to jump at the guy and slap him for saying such thing about her son, but Alex beat her to it.

"Okay, listen, firstly, he didn't send me shopping, I came out myself to see this new city. Second, I have more than five dollars with me now; I just don't want to spend it. I'm getting married soon, I need to learn saving money." Alex said, smiling at the thought of marriage. "And third, you have no right to talk like that about my boyfriend. No one insults him except me." She glared at him for good measure.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." The guy muttered, backing away slightly. "But I still think it's a bit irresponsible to let your girlfriend roam around all alone in a new city."

Alex glared at him again. "I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself. I don't need your-"

She was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone. She groaned and answered it. "Yes Justin?"

"Alex what are you doing?" Justin asked in a concerned tone.

"Umm, I'm in the middle of an argument with a strange guy who's trying to hit on me?" Alex mumbled sarcastically.

"What!" Justin shrieked through the phone, and Alex winced, pushing it a few inches away from her ear, "are you okay? Do you need help?"

"Justin I'm fine." Alex assured. "Just come and get me okay? I'll wait in front of your favorite geek store." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay." Justin sighed. "And it's a computer club, not a geek store." He scolded.

"Whatever." Alex rolled her eyes again. "Just get me, okay?"

"Okay." Justin sighed again. "Miss you."

Alex blushed slightly. "Miss you too baby."

Alex looked back around her to see that the stranger was gone. She smiled in victory, walking towards the computer club.

Maria smiled to herself. This was the girl she'd been looking for!


	18. Ch 17: all's well that ends well

**Chapter 17: All's well that ends well**

Justin picked up Alex from the computer club and brought her home, fighting all the way about silly little things.

"That's not Newton's third law. Please I know this much." Alex protested, as they entered the apartment.

Justin looked at her at disbelief. "Alex that is Newton's third law. I can't believe you forgot that! How can you-"He was cut off by the ringing of his phone. "It's your parents." Justin announced, looking at the number.

"Oh shoot. I forgot to tell them where I am!" Alex panicked.

"I don't think it's that." Justin said, shaking his head.

"Then what do you think it is?" Alex scoffed.

"I think my parents called them up." Justin stated bluntly.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Alex muttered as Justin answered the call.

"Hello? Yeah… she did? They what?... really?...wow!...thanks bro."

Justin smiled as he hung up. Alex raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"My parents had called them up to tell about our relation. Max answered the call. And guess what, mom and dad have decided to give us a chance!" Justin shouted in excitement, as he picked Alex up and spun her in a hug.

"Really? Wow." Alex smiled. "She probably thinks we won't last long. I'll show her."

"Alex." Justin warned, putting her down.

"Fine." Alex snapped, wrapping her arms around his neck. "We still need to talk to my parents."

"Yeah, before that, I have something else to say." Justin announced.

"Okay?" Alex asked, eyeing him skeptically.

Justin smiled. "Would you be interested to be the drummer in our band?"

"No way! You can't be serious!"

"I am. I talked to the guys, and they said they'd love to have you as their drummer."

"Justin, this is so great!" Alex cried as she hugged him tightly.

"I know, it's perfect." he whispered in her ears.

"Now there's just one more thing left to do." Alex said, pulling away.

"Nope. Two things." Justin announced, walking to a drawer and taking something out. "I know you hate sappy things, but I do need to formally propose you."

"Propose me?" Alex asked, stunned at the suddenness of things. "Ew, okay, just make it quick. And less dorky."

Justin glared at her and then nodded, slipping the ring in her hand. "You will marry me right?"

"Yeah, sure." Alex replied quickly. "Are we done? Good. Let's go."

Justin grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Not so fast. Here comes the kiss."

Alex whined but obliged without further protest. When they were done, she pulled away and tried to walk away again. Justin grabbed her arm and stopped her again.

"What?" Alex asked, crossing her arms in front of her in annoyance.

"Umm…do you wanna?... you know…." Justin said, looking at the ground and blushing uncontrollably.

"Gosh, stop blushing like a little girl." Alex snapped.

"Umm…sorry…. I just…. You know what I mean!" he snapped in frustration.

"No I don't." Alex deadpanned.

Justin sighed and looked away. "We still haven't…. you know…" He motioned towards his room.

Alex scrunched up her nose in mock disgust. "EW."

"It's okay if you don't wanna…" Justin reassured quickly.

"We need to talk to my parents first." Alex snapped quickly. "We'll do it when we get back." She added, winking at him.

Justin blushed again and looked away as Alex grabbed her wand.

Smoke appeared in the Russo living room as Alex and Justin magically appeared there.

Justin coughed.

"See, I told you I would get the spell right this time." Alex said, smiling slightly.

"You transported us to the battlefield of Wandiwash!" Justin shrieked.

"Hey, I thought you loved history." Alex protested quickly.

"There you are Alex!" Jerry cried. "We were worried you got into jail."

Alex glared at her father. "Why will I get into jail? That is totally not fair."

"Really? Then where were you?" Theresa demanded, joining them.

"I was at Justin's apartment." Alex replied. "And we have something to tell you."

"Okay, go on." Theresa and Jerry glanced at them and at each other nervously.

"We are dating." Alex announced, taking Justin's hands in hers.

"WHAT?" Theresa shrieked.

"He's your brother!" jerry shouted.

"No he isn't." Alex protested. "He's just Justin Jones, another dorky guy."

Justin glared at her, but didn't say anything.

Theresa sighed. "I guess I should have seen this coming. Are you sure Justin?"

"Yes, mom…er…Theresa…umm, I'm sure." Justin replied, smiling.

They turned towards Jerry. Jerry sighed and looked at Alex. "You do know that if you marry Justin, you'd have to give up your powers, right?"

Alex looked at Justin, and he nodded. Alex locked back at her father and smiled. "I know, dad. And I'm ready, cause _**sometimes, you just have to let go of something great to get something greater." **_

_**(List of things Justin hates about Alex: Alex Russo totally stole his dialog.) **_

(Finally this story is over :(( Thanks for the wonderful response.)


	19. Epilogue

**Epilogue **

Alex gulped nervously, looking at the huge crowd in the auditorium.

"Justin, I can't do this. There are too many people." She whined.

"Alex Jones is afraid of something?" he teased.

"As if you weren't freaking out before your first stage show." She shot back.

Justin smiled at the memory. "Maybe I was a little scared."

"Maybe?" his band-mate said.

"A little?" another said.

Justin glared at them and Alex smiled.

"Okay, fine I was terrified," Justin admitted, "But you were there for me, and it all worked out. I'm here for you now, and it'll all work out just as well. Trust me."

Alex nodded, looking at the auditorium, and picking up the drum-sticks, ready to fulfill her dreams.

**Five years later**

Her life was picture perfect. There was a crowd, cheering at them, while they played their music. And the best part of it all was that she got to do it with Justin. Nothing mattered to her more than him. Okay, maybe something did.

"Where is she?" she whispered to Justin.

"I don't know. She said she'll be right here." Justin whispered back. "I think she fell asleep."

He tiptoed inside the room and found his sleeping daughter in the couch.

"Take her to her bed." Alex hissed.

Justin nodded, picking her up gently and taking her to her room. Alex smiled and ruffled the hair of her little girl. She had grown up so much….

"So, we need to wake up at 4 tomorrow. Gotta drive her to mom's house and then head to the studio." Justin announced, entering their room and setting his alarm.

Alex sighed. "I feel so bad to leave her behind all the time."

Justin looked at her and smiled. "It's our job Alex."

Alex nodded, looking away. "So, we better get to sleep now if we have to wake up early?"

"Yupe." Justin nodded, sitting beside her on the bed and turning off the light. "Can't I please keep the night light on?" he pleaded.

"For the 100th time, NO!" Alex snapped, putting her arms around him and pulling him into her.

"So, anything else you wanna talk about?" Justin asked sleepily.

"No." Alex replied, sighing. "Some action would be good." She mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that." Justin whispered, grinning slightly.

"And you'll do nothing about it right?" Alex snapped.

"We have to get up at 4 in the morning. It's 11 now." Justin stated.

"So what? We got plenty of time to sleep." Alex scoffed.

"Alex, for a normal and healthy life, it is absolutely necessary to have at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep." He began lecturing. "Otherwise there can be serious ailments like-"

Alex groaned and cut him off with a kiss.

"Or not." Justin mumbled. "Sleep at 12, okay?" he whispered.

Alex smiled evilly and pulled away from him, turning around and rolling over to the other side. "Good night Justin."

"What?" Justin asked in disbelief. "Oh, so you were teasing me again. Fine." He snapped, feigning hurt.

"Oh just shut up and fall asleep already." Alex retorted. "Maybe your alien crush would visit you in your dreams."

Justin sighed, moving over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Love you."

"Love you too… dork" Alex whispered before she fell asleep.

* * *

_So you see- time changes everything._

_People change, situations change, feelings change._

**But some things never change….  
**

**

* * *

(A/n: that's it guys. The end. This was unbetad because I kind of lost interest in this after I got the idea of 'Dollhouse' so sorry for all the errors. Please leave behind a review!)  
**


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